The Briefing Room
General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Space => Topic started by: Elderberry on July 21, 2020, 03:10:32 am
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ars Technica by Eric Berger - 7/20/2020
Every booster still undergoes detailed inspections between launches.
5:45pm ET Monday Update: After waiting 30 minutes for a stray shower to clear the launch pad, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off successfully on Monday, carrying a Korean communications satellite into space. The first stage then executed a successful landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
SpaceX has now successfully landed 57 of the 97 rockets it has launched.
Original post: SpaceX will attempt to launch a South Korean military communications satellite on Monday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Anasis 2 mission has a nearly four-hour launch window, running from 5pm ET (21:00 UTC) to 8:55pm (00:55 UTC Tuesday).
This effort follows a delay from last week, when SpaceX called off a launch attempt to investigate a second stage issue. The company has not said whether it replaced the second stage for this launch or fixed a problem with the existing hardware.
Perhaps the most notable aspect of Monday's launch is that, if successful, it would break the company's record for turnaround time for a Falcon 9 rocket first stage. This booster was first used on May 30 with the launch of the Demo-2 mission for NASA, successfully sending astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station. A launch Monday means the company will have reused this booster in just 51 days.
More: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/07/spacex-seeks-to-set-turnaround-record-for-an-orbital-rocket-on-monday/ (https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/07/spacex-seeks-to-set-turnaround-record-for-an-orbital-rocket-on-monday/)