SpaceX was able to successfully complete two orbital launches less than five hours apart. Falcon 9 rockets
What is known
The first start took place on March 17 at 21:26 (EET). The Falcon 9 rocket took off from US Space Force Base Vandenberg in California. She sent 52 Starlink spacecraft into orbit.
</ p>lift off! pic.twitter.com/scElnpo3uy
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 17, 2023
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship pic.twitter.com/8k4vdF5e1u
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 17, 2023
Deployment of 52 Starlink satellites confirmed
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 17, 2023
On March 18 at 01:38 (ETT), another Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from a pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It sent telecommunications satellites SES-18 and SES-19 into geosynchronous orbit.
</ p>Falcon 9 vertical at SLC-40 ahead of tonight's launch of the @SES_Satellites SES-18 and SES-19 mission; teams are keeping an eye on winds at the launch site pic.twitter.com/0U5aZe3Sus
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 17, 2023
lift off! pic.twitter.com/ubvSTsKa15
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 17, 2023
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship pic.twitter.com/fAK4AKRBbn
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 17, 2023
The first stage of each of the rockets successfully returnedback to earth. It is noted that for the Falcon 9, which put Starlink satellites into orbit, this was already the eighth launch. The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which was used to launch the SES spacecraft, has successfully completed six missions.
Falcon 9 launches SES-18 and SES-19 to orbit pic.twitter.com/UIGvvdtOth
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 18, 2023
We also note that these launches were the 18th and 19thfrom the beginning of 2023. The head of the aerospace company SpaceX, Elon Musk, promises that by the end of 2023 it will be possible to carry out approximately 100 orbital launches. Given that the calendar is now mid-March, everything is going according to schedule.