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SpaceX knocks out launches on both coasts, recovers 200th booster

SpaceX sent up another batch of Starlink satellites in an early morning Space Coast launch followed by a satellite rideshare mission from California in the afternoon all the while hitting the milestone of successfully landing 200 of its boosters.

First up was a Falcon 9 with 53 satellites for the company’s growing internet constellation that took off at 3:10 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with the first stage booster flying for the ninth time. It was able to once again make its recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas down range in the Atlantic Ocean.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/fkJy73gUyd

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 12, 2023

This was the 89th overall Starlink launch since the first operational deployment of the internet satellites in 2019, and 20th dedicated Starlink mission so far in 2023. With this batch, SpaceX has sent up nearly 4,600 of the satellites, according to statistics tracked by astronomer Jonathan McDowell. The Federal Communications Commission last year upped SpaceX’s license to allow for up to 7,500.

This marked the 29th launch on the Space Coast from either Canaveral or Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX has been responsible for 28 of those 29 with Relativity Space’s lone launch filling out the only other liftoff on the manifest so far.

United Launch Alliance has yet to fly this year, but could join the launch party later this month on what will be the penultimate launch of its remaining two Delta IV Heavy rockets. That mission for the U.S. Space Force is slated for no earlier than June 21. Its first-ever Vulcan Centaur rocket launch is not expected until at least July while a planned Atlas V launch of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner on its first crewed flight has been delayed from a planned July liftoff and not likely to fly until the fall at the earliest.

SpaceX meanwhile also had a California launch at 5:35 p.m. EDT with a Falcon 9 flying on the Transporter-8 satellite rideshare flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

On board were 72 payloads headed to orbit including small satellites, several orbital transfer vehicles used to get those satellites to farther destinations and one reentry capsule.

Among the payloads are three experimental satellites for the Space Domain Awareness & Combat Power program within the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, part of the Department of Defense’s growing strategy to take flights where it can get them. While SpaceX is the main ride, the DOD’s satellites are going their last miles on transfer vehicles from Spaceflight Inc.

“Cultivating multiple paths to space for experimental satellites is imperative to maintain continued access as space becomes further congested and contested,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Shea, SSC’s director of the DoD’s Space Test Program.

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on Landing Zone 4, marking SpaceX’s 200th successful recovery of an orbital class rocket! pic.twitter.com/iqs0xjO9se

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 12, 2023

Its first-stage booster also flew for its ninth time once again sticking the landing at Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg.

The successful recovery marked the 200th time SpaceX has landed either a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy booster since the first success in 2015. The cost-saving facet of SpaceX launches has allowed 173 booster reflights to date.

For the year from all three of its regular launch facilities in Florida and California, SpaceX has now completed 40 orbital launches keeping on pace to break 2022’s record of 61 launches for the company.

The two launches Monday bring its overall total now to 239 successful orbital flights since the first Falcon 1 launch in 2008. Falcon 1 made orbit only twice before the company transitioned to Falcon 9, which flew for the first time in 2010. Falcon 9 has made it to orbit 229 times so far with only one in-flight failure in 2015. Falcon Heavy has flown six times with three more potentially flying this year.

Its in-development rocket Starship has yet to make it to orbit having only made one attempt with the combined Starship and Super Heavy that was destroyed about four minutes after liftoff during a test launch from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas launch facility Starbase on April 20. SpaceX has yet to announce when it will try again, but Musk said in early May that it could go within six to eight weeks meaning a July attempt could be in the cards.