On Feb. 15, SpaceX was able to successfully send another batch of its Starlink broadband satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. However, SpaceX may have missed the landing of its Falcon 9 first stage booster for the first time in 12 months.
SpaceX Falcon 9 crashes
The mission was livestreamed and it showed a flash that was spotted to the side of the droneship at the moment that the booster should be landing, but no rocket ever enters the frame.
SpaceX has not released a confirmation of the fate of the Falcon 9, but speculations spread that it may have crashed in the ocean, according to Daily Express.
In the process, it seems to have spared three seagulls that were hanging out on the landing pad and experts may never understand just how close they came to being killed.
The Falcon 9 had a good run, as it successfully completed six launches but only five landings was recorded throughout its career.
The apparent hard water landing also comes exactly a year after the same thing happened at the end of an earlier Starlink mission on Feb. 17, 2020. Every landing attempt in between has been successful, for Falcon 9 at least. It does not count Starship testing in Texas, United States.
Following that, SpaceX has only a bit more than 24 hours before its next Starlink flight. The 20th batch of satellites is set to blast off from adjacent Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 16 at 9:55 p.m. Pacific Time or Feb. 17 at 12:55 a.m. at Eastern Standard Time.
SpaceX had planned to launch two batches of Starlinks from Florida just hours of each other earlier this month. However, on of this missions did not push through. That launch is now set for Feb. 16.
These launches and the droneship landings that follow them are now becoming a routine for the company, but CEO Elon Musk would like to see the pace of launches increase. The permit from the FCC for Starlink to operate needs 2,212 satellites that are operational by March 2022.
So far, there are 1,000 of the small satellites have been launched into space, but it is not clear how many of them are now operational. Regardless, it would seem that if SpaceX can pull off it least two Starlink launches every month, the company should be able to hit its target.
Only two Starlink missions have been flown so far in 2021, but SpaceX can get up to speed fast if it nails both of its missions this week. But of course, these launches are also known to slip, according to The New York Times.
Previous Starlink mission
SpaceX sent a batch of Starlink satellites into orbit on Feb. 15, but it did not stick the landing of its Falcon 9 rocket, according to CNET.
SpaceX did achieve its main objective of sending 60 more flying nodes for its nascent global broadband service into space, bringing the total number of Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit to almost 300.
A secondary goal for the fifth mission of Starlink was to get the first stage of the Falcon 9 by landing it on a droneship that is stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. However, it missed the mark and crashed in the ocean.
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Written by Sieeka Khan
