SpaceX winds down 2024 with a pair of Falcon 9 launches
by Mark Moran
Washington DC (UPI) Dec 29, 2024
SpaceX completed back-to-back missions of two Falcon 9 rockets over the weekend, delivering 22 Starlink satellites and Astranis’s One to Many Mission into orbit, the 132nd and 133rd missions of the year.
“We’re now targeting 134 launches — two shy of our last goal — to finish 2024 strong,” Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s vice president of launch wrote on social media. “Here’s to an awesome last couple of days in 2024 and an even better 2025!”
The first of the two missions lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 5:48 p.m. PST and deployed the communications satellites into low-Earth orbit about 65 minutes later.
The first stage booster fuel module returned to Earth, landing on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes after liftoff, as has become nearly routine.
It was the 16th mission for this particular booster, a dozen of which have been to launch Starlink satellites into orbit, adding to the SpaceX constellation of broadband internet hardware. It was SpaceX’s 88th Starlink mission this year, one of which failed because of an upper-stage oxygen leak.
The Starlink satellite constellation consists of nearly 6,700 active modules, according to satellite tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
“Ultimately, there is only one number that truly matters. ZERO failures. Our priority is – and will remain – safety and reliability above all else,” Dontchev continued.
The second launch, which occurred at 12 a.m. EST Sunday, sent a miniature fleet of 4 “MicroGEO” satellites into orbit for the company Astranis from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. SpaceX made the launch on its second try after the first attempt was aborted seconds before the scheduled liftoff a week earlier. SpaceX said it changed some engine components to make the second attempt successful.
The Astranis mission was the second of three planned SpaceX launches this weekend.
The MicroGEO satellites launched Sunday were built to provide various satellite communications services, including in-flight connectivity on airplanes, ships, or other modes of transportation. Another satellite will be dedicated to broadband service in the Philippines.
“These are our most advanced satellites yet, with a number of improvements that will generate increased capacity and affordability,” Astranis CEO John Gedmark said in a statement before launch.
SpaceX plans to launch 21 more Starlink satellites from Florida on Monday.
Related Links
