SpaceX has successfully launched a second Falcon 9 into space this weekend, for Iridium, their client. The Falcon 9 rocket hastened up from SpaceX’s Vandenberg Air Force Base down in California. The launch came after SpaceX had instigated another Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. The latest event comprised of 10 new satellites for Iridium that will uplift Iridium’s NEXT constellation mission.
SpaceX plans to launch Iridium’s 75 satellites that will create a strong and reliable network that will likely allow everyone on Earth to easily contact anyone from anywhere on Earth. The Sunday’s initiative was the SpaceX’s ninth thriving undertaking for this year with only six months down the line.
The missions saw both rockets drop from space landing into the sea to ensure that the boosters would be available for reuse in the future. SpaceX also succeeded to land the Falcon 9 first rocket on the ocean-based barge despite the complicated weather conditions. Launching two rockets for a similar mission just twice in two days is a rare occurrence especially in the U.S. rocket history. About 20 years ago, Delta II was able to launch rockets in three days apart.
The launchings and landings have set a great record for SpaceX by making the shortest circle between flights from different sites. The company is likely to achieve even more as it plans to repair a spoilt pad at Cape Canaveral towards the end of the year to allow services from its Texas spaceport by the beginning of next year.
The last time US rockets launched such simultaneous types of rockets in two days apart was in 1995 when both Lockheed Martin Atlas and Atlas-E sent two separate missions into space with the intention of delivering Intelsat broadcast and Air Force weather satellites to space.
SpaceX’s launch of a Bulgarian communication satellite was delayed in four days due to a technical hitch that needed to be fixed before the rockets could be flown off, the company used the recycled Falcon booster that set up a weekend doubleheader.
