On a December night, two rockets rose from Florida within hours of each other, one carrying a secret space plane and seeds meant to teach us how living things grow beyond Earth, the other carrying another cluster of Starlink satellites into the sky. It is a small moment in a longer human story of reaching upward, where the ambition to connect the whole planet through orbiting machines sits uneasily beside the quieter question of what we leave behind in the heavens. The year closes with SpaceX just short of a hundred launches, and the reach of its satellites keeps widening.
SpaceX Launches Two Rockets Less Than Three Hours Apart, Its Quickest Florida Turnaround Since 1966
The shortest gap between Florida launches since 1966
Mark
Two launches in under three hours. Why is that the headline?
Mimi
Because it's the shortest gap between launches in Florida since 1966. It shows how routine the company has made something that used to be rare.
Mark
And the first rocket wasn't a routine payload.
Mimi
No. A Falcon Heavy carried a secretive space plane, plus plant seeds tied to a NASA study of long-duration spaceflight.
Luke
Worth noting that what the space plane is doing is not described. Secretive is the word used, and that's all we can say.
Mark
The year's numbers are striking too.
Mimi
98 launches so far, against 61 last year and about half that in 2021. Number 99 is set for Saturday from California.
Luke
Careful: 99 is scheduled, not done. Schedules move.
Mark
What about Starlink itself?
Mimi
More than 5,200 satellites as of last month, with plans for up to 12,000 and a request to go to 42,000.
Luke
The 42,000 is a request for approval, not an approval. And critics' concerns about junk, light pollution and collision hazards are claims reported here without measurements.
Mark
And the booster?
Mimi
Its 12th flight, landing on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas about 8 1/2 minutes after launch.
Der Puls
- Two launches from Florida separated by fewer than three hours, the shortest gap between Florida departures since 1966, have turned a routine night into a rare spectacle.
- A Falcon Heavy lifted a secretive space plane and scores of NASA plant seeds, while a Falcon 9 followed with its next batch of Starlink broadband satellites.
- Critics warn that the growing Starlink constellation, now over 5,200 satellites, brings space junk, light pollution, and collision risks to crowded low-Earth orbit.
- The first-stage booster, flying for its 12th time, landed on a drone ship about eight and a half minutes after liftoff, reinforcing the push toward reuse.
- With one more California launch set for Saturday, SpaceX is poised to close 2023 at 99 launches, a near-century pace that shows no sign of slowing.
On a December night, two rockets rose from Florida within hours of each other, one carrying a secret space plane and seeds meant to teach us how living things grow beyond Earth, the other carrying another cluster of Starlink satellites into the sky. It is a small moment in a longer human story of reaching upward, where the ambition to connect the whole planet through orbiting machines sits uneasily beside the quieter question of what we leave behind in the heavens. The year closes with SpaceX just short of a hundred launches, and the reach of its satellites keeps widening.
At 11:01 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, December 28, a Falcon 9 lifted off from its Florida pad, carrying a fresh batch of Starlink satellites toward low-Earth orbit. The launch was broadcast live, but the real surprise of the night had come just before it. Less than three hours earlier, SpaceX had sent a Falcon Heavy into the sky carrying a secretive space plane.
That pairing marks the shortest gap between two Florida launches since 1966. The Falcon Heavy also carried scores of living plant seeds, part of a NASA effort to learn how long spaceflight affects people and how plants grow in microgravity.
The Starlink flight was SpaceX's 98th launch of 2023. Its next mission, number 99, is set for Saturday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This year's total is nearly 70% higher than 2022's 61 launches, which had itself doubled 2021. Most flights use Falcon 9, with a few Falcon Heavys mixed in.
Starlink drives much of this pace. More than 5,200 small broadband satellites now circle the Earth, and SpaceX hopes to deploy as many as 12,000, with approval sought for up to 42,000. The network has brought new competition to the internet service market, but critics point to space junk, light pollution, and hazards to other spacecraft.
Thursday's booster was flying for the 12th time. After sending the rocket toward orbit, it returned and landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas about 8.5 minutes into flight. With one more launch ahead, SpaceX will end 2023 at 99, just shy of a hundred.
At 11:01 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, December 28, a Falcon 9 rocket climbed off its Florida pad on a column of fire, carrying a fresh batch of Starlink Internet satellites toward low-Earth orbit. The launch was broadcast live. What made the night unusual was what had happened just before it: less than three hours earlier, SpaceX had sent a Falcon Heavy skyward from Florida carrying a secretive space plane.
That gap is the shortest between two launches in Florida since 1966. The Falcon Heavy's payload was not only the space plane. It also included scores of living plant seeds, part of a NASA effort to understand how long-duration spaceflight affects humans and how plants grow in space.
The Starlink launch was SpaceX's 98th of 2023, leaving the company just shy of 100 for the year. Its final mission of 2023, number 99, is scheduled for Saturday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The year's total is an increase of nearly 70% over 2022, when SpaceX carried out 61 launches, and that earlier figure was itself double what the company achieved in 2021. Most of these flights use Falcon 9 rockets, though SpaceX has also flown a small handful of Falcon Heavys, like the one that lifted the space plane.
The pace reflects how heavily the company has leaned on Starlink. As of last month, the constellation consisted of more than 5,200 small broadband satellites in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX has said it intends to deploy as many as 12,000 and is seeking approval to launch as many as 42,000 in the years ahead. The satellites have added competition to the Internet service provider market.
Critics of the high-volume approach have blamed the growing number of satellites for creating space junk, light pollution, and hazards for other spacecraft in low-Earth orbit.
The hardware itself reflects SpaceX's emphasis on reuse. Thursday night's first-stage booster was flying for the 12th time. After pushing the rocket toward orbit, it returned to Earth and landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, about 8 1/2 minutes into the flight.
With one more launch planned from California on Saturday, SpaceX is set to finish 2023 at 99 launches, just short of the round 100.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Critics have blamed the growing number of satellites for space junk, light pollution and hazards for other spacecraft.— Critics of high-volume satellite launches, as reported by UPI
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