Elon Musk‘s SpaceX resumed launch activities over the weekend after a two-week-long pause with three back-to-back Starlink mission launches.
What Happened: SpaceX launched three back-to-back Starlink missions on Saturday and Sunday, taking 67 Starlink satellites in total to low-Earth orbit. While two of the missions were launched from Florida, the third was launched from California.
The three launches come after a two-week-long pause.
SpaceX launched Falcon 9 with 20 Starlink satellites from California on July 11. However, the Starlink satellites were deployed in a lower-than-intended orbit owing to an issue with the rocket’s second-stage engine. The company's launch operations have been on hold since.
The resumption follows an investigation by the company into the root cause of the mishap with oversight from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Necessary design changes have also been deployed to prevent a recurrence of the issue, SpaceX said last week.
Musk Rejoices: “Back in the saddle!” SpaceX CEO Musk wrote on X after Saturday’s launch.
The CEO also congratulated the team at SpaceX on Sunday for the three successful back-to-back launches.
Why It Matters: SpaceX completed 67 missions using its Falcon launch vehicles as of the end of the second quarter, with its Falcon 9 workhorse alone accounting for 66 launches. The company is looking to launch 144 times in 2024, averaging twelve times per month.
With the three launches over the weekend, SpaceX has completed six missions in July.
Starlink is the satellite internet segment of Musk’s SpaceX. It achieved a breakeven cash flow in November.
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Photo courtesy: SpaceX
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