Running on two fronts, SpaceX continues to regularly land rockets on the East and West coasts while developing Starship at its facilities in Texas. The firm's latest launch of Intelsat Corporation's Galaxy satellite constellation marked the 213th time a Falcon 9 rocket was recovered. SpaceX is the only company in the world capable of landing and reusing medium-lift rocket boosters, and once the Starship rocket becomes operational, it will also become the first to land a Super Heavy booster.
SpaceX Launches Intelsat's Galaxy Satellite As Part Of Constellation Refresh Program
The rapid reusability capability of the Falcon 9 program has proven to be a boon for the satellite industry. Before SpaceX's workhorse rocket, each launch would require a new booster - driving up costs and the time associated with launch planning. However, SpaceX has a lower turnaround time for its rocket, and since the vehicle is reusable, the costs for sending payloads to space are also reduced. This opens space to more firms and allows legacy companies such as Intelsat and JSAT Corp to maintain their satellite constellations regularly.
Intelsat has launched five satellites with SpaceX over the past year, alongside launching eight geostationary satellites over the past ten months, an industry first. The latest satellite, Galaxy 37 Horizons 4, will provide media coverage in Alaska and other regions and networking and mobility coverage in the Pacific Ocean.
As opposed to the earlier Intelsat launches, which saw the Falcon 9 launch two satellites, today featured only one satellite. The rocket booster was relatively newer compared to SpaceX's standards. Having flown five times, two of its missions have been to the International Space Station (ISS), one has been a Starlink launch, and the remainder have launched other satellites. The booster had flown in June for a NASA cargo launch, with the turnaround time being a little short of two months for the latest launch.
Without reusability, to launch the same number of missions that it has with the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy, SpaceX would have had to build the same number of rockets that have flown. A large chunk of the firm's launches has been for the Starlink satellite internet constellation, which servers customers in more than five dozen countries within years of opening service for beta testing and then full rollout.
However, the future of SpaceX's satellite constellation, which is the first to become operational, is closely tied to the firm's Starship rocket. Current connectivity, particularly over long distances, is provided by the Starlink V1.5 satellites. To expand services, SpaceX has to launch more than ten thousand second-generation spacecraft by 2031 and half of these by 2028. These new spacecraft are larger and have more capacity than their predecessors, so they can significantly upgrade service for existing and new users.
SpaceX also plans to launch V-band payloads with the second-generation Starlink satellites instead of flying new spacecraft dedicated to this band. The original V-band satellites were planned to fly at much lower altitudes than the other Starlink satellites. This lower altitude, classified as very low Earth orbit (VLEO), was intended to supplement the low Earth orbit Starlink satellites by providing more coverage in similar geographical areas.
August should be a busy time for SpaceX's Starship and Falcon 9 teams, with more launches and crucial upgrades to the rocket under development in Texas. While SpaceX quickly rebuilt the Starship launch pad after April's attempt, it is yet to test the new stage separation system that will see if the rocket can successfully send payloads to space. The April attempt's point of failure came at stage separation when the first and Starship stages failed to do so.
Refference- https://wccftech.com
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