SpaceX's 22 Starlink Satellites Launched And Landed In Florida

Space.com

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 22 Starlink internet satellites from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.  The first stage of the rocket landed on the  A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship  in the Atlantic Ocean several minutes after separation.  Credit: SpaceX

Transcript

00:00 Coming up in a couple seconds we should hear a call out indicating that Falcon 9 is in

00:04 startup.

00:05 Falcon 9 is in startup.

00:11 All right that tells us the flight computers have now taken over the launch countdown.

00:18 LD, go for launch.

00:25 And there's our final go for launch tonight coming to us from our launch director or LD.

00:31 So with that let's sit back and watch as Falcon 9 takes our 22 Starlink satellites into space.

00:37 T-minus 30 seconds and counting.

00:44 T-minus 15 seconds and counting.

00:54 T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition, lift off.

01:18 Vehicles pitching downrange.

01:19 M1D chamber pressures are nominal.

01:42 We're now at T-plus 35 seconds.

01:44 Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 from Cape Canaveral,

01:49 Florida at 1141 p.m. Eastern Time.

01:53 Next major milestone coming up.

01:55 Nominal power and telemetry.

01:58 Next major milestone is Max Q and that is when the vehicle experiences the greatest

02:03 amount of external stresses as it ascends through the Earth's atmosphere.

02:10 Vehicle supersonic.

02:12 That call out there tells us that the vehicle is traveling faster than the speed of sound.

02:20 Max Q.

02:21 And there's that call out for Max Q. Again, that's when the rocket experiences the greatest

02:26 amount of external stresses.

02:45 Now we're less than a minute away from a series of events that will happen in quick succession.

02:50 Main engine cutoff, stage separation, second engine start one, and fairing separation.

02:56 Main engine cutoff or MECO as it's written on that timeline there at the bottom of your

03:01 screen.

03:02 That's where all nine Merlin 1D engines will on that first stage will shut down.

03:08 Next will be stage separation and that's when as the name suggests the first and second

03:12 stages will separate.

03:14 SCS1 or second engine start one is where we will light the Merlin vacuum engine on that

03:20 second stage.

03:22 And fairing separation is when those two fairing halves will separate and fall away from the

03:26 second stage.

03:32 Coming up now to main engine cutoff.

03:37 MECO.

03:46 Stage separation confirmed.

03:52 And back startup.

03:55 As you just saw and heard over the nets, we had successful main engine cutoff, stage separation,

04:01 and SCS1.

04:02 We're now coming up on fairing separation from the second stage in just a few seconds.

04:11 That is the first stage extending the grid fins on the left hand side of your screen

04:15 and second stage on the right.

04:20 Fairing separation confirmed.

04:27 Beautiful view of those two fairing halves separating and falling away from the second

04:30 stage exposing our stack of Starlink satellites.

04:36 We will be attempting to recover both fairing halves using our recovery vessel Doug.

04:40 Both of the fairing halves that supported today's mission are flight proven with one

04:45 half flying for its eighth time and the other for its tenth.

04:56 Last view of the second stage engine, that MVAC engine or Merlin vacuum engine.

05:02 There's one single engine on the second stage.

05:07 Currently the first stage, not currently on screen, but it is on its way back to Earth

05:12 toward our drone ship, a short fall of Gravitas.

05:15 And that MVAC engine there attached to the second stage is continuing along with its

05:20 burn, which will last about another two and a half minutes.

05:26 Designed and manufactured by SpaceX, Starlink is the world's largest satellite internet

05:31 constellation.

05:33 Starlink satellites operate in low Earth orbit, which enables the delivery of high speed,

05:37 low latency internet to people living in remote and rural locations around the globe.

05:54 Acquisition of signal, Bermuda.

06:03 Vehicles on a nominal trajectory.

06:20 Everything continues to look good for both the first and second stages.

06:23 Live views of that second stage on your screen now.

06:27 As I mentioned earlier, today's Starlink mission marks SpaceX's 53rd mission just this

06:33 year and 250 second mission overall.

06:44 Coming up in about 30 seconds, we will have entry burn for the first stage, which is the

06:50 first of two burns that that stage will execute in preparation for landing.

07:00 Right now, the first stage is steering itself back to Earth.

07:07 We're targeting a landing on our drone ship, a short fall of Gravitas.

07:11 Stage one FCS is saved.

07:23 Stage one entry burn startup.

07:29 Here's the call for stage one entry burn, which you can see there on the left hand side

07:32 of your screen.

07:34 Stage one, which we also call the booster, has now ignited engines one, five and nine.

07:39 Stage one entry burn shutdown.

07:40 It is now shut off engines one, five and nine.

07:44 And that maneuver allowed it to allow it to slow the vehicle down for atmospheric reentry.

07:54 Pretty cool view of the grid fins there on the left hand side of your screen.

07:59 Those actually measure four feet by five feet, and they're one of the largest cast titanium

08:04 structures in the world.

08:11 Stage two is on a nominal trajectory.

08:36 Stage one transonic.

08:40 That call out there tells us that the first stage is transonic, meaning it is traveling

08:45 near the speed of sound.

08:56 Next milestone we have coming up is landing of the first stage.

09:01 That will be the final burn that the first stage performs, and it will attempt to make

09:07 a soft landing on our drone ship.

09:10 Stage one landing burn.

09:12 There we can see that landing burn has begun.

09:17 In preparation for touchdown on our drone ship, a shortfall of gravitas.

09:24 Landing leg deploy.

09:33 Stage one landing confirmed.

09:37 Cool backlit view of that first stage.

09:42 Falcon 9 first stage has now successfully launched and landed for the fourth time.

09:51 One of the younger rockets in our fleet.

09:55 Now coming up on second engine cutoff.

10:19 Heard confirmation of nominal orbit insertion.

10:23 Great timing.

10:24 Heard confirmation of second engine cutoff followed by nominal orbital insertion.

10:29 So now that we know.

10:30 Expected loss of signal.

10:34 Great news there with that confirmation of good orbit.

10:38 Today's landing marks our 214th overall landing of an orbital class rocket including Falcon

10:43 9 and Falcon Heavy missions.

10:46 With confirmation of successful first stage landing and second engine cutoff and good

10:51 orbit, that will wrap up our coverage for now.

10:54 Be sure to check our social media for confirmation of Starlink deployment.

10:59 Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.

Category

Transcript

Recommended