As of 2022, Elon Musk’s Space X has already set a record with 61 launches last year, more than doubling the number it had in 2021. Overall, it has completed 207 missions and is 99% successful, as only less than 10 missions have been labeled failed for this mission.
Last February 2, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying 53 of SpaceX’s Starlink telecommunications satellites into the sky. The two-stage rocket’s consumable first phase returned for a recovery on the SpaceX carrier deck, A Shortfall of Gravitas, nearly nine minutes after liftoff.
Around 50 minutes later, the Falcon 9’s upper stage successfully deployed the Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.
Falcon 9 has already been declared a success, with Space X tweeting photographs of the launch. As of the moment, SpaceX is preparing for a huge test this week, in which it intends to fire all 33 Starship engines simultaneously.
The preponderance of the previous year’s missions was allocated to expanding the Starlink megaconstellation, which now includes over 3,500 operational satellites.
That volume will keep increasing for some time. SpaceX even has authorization and license to deploy 12,000 Starlink spacecraft, as well as the firm has sought permission to deploy an additional 30,000 satellites.
