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Keeping up with its cadence of rapid Starlink launches as part of an attempt to set a new record, SpaceX launched a fresh batch of Starlink satellites from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Today’s launch marked the 12th flight of the Falcon 9 booster assigned to the 26th Starlink flight of 2024. SpaceX has launched eight missions so far in April, and out of these, six have been for Starlink satellites.
A rapid launch cadence has allowed the Falcon 9 to squeeze more Starlink satellites per launch, allowing SpaceX to recover some of the reductions in the number of satellites launched per mission from which the medium-lift rocket has suffered.
SpaceX Picks Up Launch Cadence With Eight Flights In April Following Latest Starlink Launch From Florida
A rapid launch cadence this April has allowed the Falcon 9, which remains the only medium-lift rocket capable of rapid flight, to set and beat records. The latest record for the Falcon 9 came a couple of days back when it became the first rocket booster in human history to complete 20 missions. Rapid reuse has enabled SpaceX to dominate the medium-lift rocket market and opened up access to space for various firms ranging from imaging to telecommunications.
On the latter front, the rocket has also enabled Starlink to remain the world’s most populous low Earth orbit small satellite constellation. SpaceX’s latest data shows that there are roughly six thousand satellites in the Starlink constellation, and today’s launch took 23 additional satellites to low Earth orbit.
Since its public debut, Starlink has added 2.7 million users to its network, and each launch adds additional network capacity. Starlink’s popularity, particularly during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has also helped SpaceX continue to generate capital in tepid financial markets. A recent contract from the Pentagon contracted SpaceX to develop a military use variant of its network. While few details are publicly available for these satellites, the ones launched today are significantly upgraded over their predecessors.
These upgrades include greater internet capacity per satellite and improved thrusters to help them navigate a little over five hundred kilometers over the Earth’s surface. Today’s launch was SpaceX’s 39th in 2024. This leaves the launch manifest’s cadence to less than ten launches shy of half of all the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy missions that SpaceX launched in 2023.
Heading towards the second half of the year, a rapid cadence of Starlink launches is critical to ensure that the constellation maintains its edge over existing and future rivals. During the time it has spent building out the six thousand internet satellite constellation, SpaceX has also fought tough battles at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with Amazon’s Kuiper subsidiary. Kuiper and Starlink satellites operate at similar orbits and use a similar network architecture to deliver internet to users in urban and sparsely populated regions.
However, unlike Kuiper, Starlink operations benefit from the internet subsidiary’s close relationship with its launch services provider parent. SpaceX has bet the future of internet service on its Starship rocket. Starship is currently being tested in Boca Chica, Texas, and provided smooth pre flight tests and regulatory approvals, the next Starship launch could take place soon.
SpaceX static fired the Starship Super Heavy booster earlier this month, and it is currently upgrading the pad before attempting to fly the world’s largest rocket for yet another time. The latest Starship test flight built up on previous launches and completed key events of stage separation and a seven-minute post-stage separation nominal ascent for the second stage Starship.
The third Starship test flight demonstrated the sheer prowess required to operate a 33-engine rocket system. After the test, SpaceX blamed the loss of the vehicle at landing on a single engine failure that cascaded into all engines losing power, adding that as part of remediations for Starship IFT-4, future boosters will have improved hardware and “refined operations” to reduce the odds of a similar anomaly in the future.
Merlin engine ignition and liftoff of Falcon 9! pic.twitter.com/GVID9qsdUk
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 17, 2024