Musk is really hairy this time! With more than ten days left in 2021, SpaceX will launch a "large number" of Falcon 9 rockets in just 3 days and 73 hours, sending dozens of tons of payload into space.
The reason why it is "large" is because no one seems to have done this before, and it is extremely difficult to launch a rocket, which requires many people to prepare for a long time and count down to a few months to shoot it. 3 days 3 shots, or the same company, each load is several tons and more than ten tons, it can be said that it is completely unimaginable, just from the safety requirements can not pass.
But Musk insisted on making it a reality, so that going to space is like traveling by plane, and the future is really coming.
The first rocket will launch at 9:24 local time today (Saturday), sending Space X's own 52 Starlink satellites into a 550-kilometer low-Earth orbit. Many people may ask, how come there are only 52? Wasn't it all 60 before? One possible reason is that the Launch of the Starlink Satellite, with an inclination of 53.22 degrees, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base over densely populated areas, and the Falcon 9 rocket would need to make a slight left turn in the air to avoid these areas, which would consume more fuel and thus reduce the payload.
The second rocket will launch 18 hours later at 3:58 a.m. on December 18, sending Turkey's 4.5-ton Turksat 5B communications satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit, after which the satellite will enter a geostationary orbit of 35,786 kilometers on its own. In January, another Turkey communications satellite, Turksat 5B, was also launched by Falcon 9.
The third rocket will be launched at 10:06 on the 21st, 72 hours after the first launch, to send the cargo Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, which will be the sixth mission of the Dragon spacecraft this year, the total 24th mission, it seems that the International Space Station is still quite expensive to eat and drink. This is also space X's finale this year.
After the completion of these three launch missions, Space X's rocket launches in 2021 will be completely over, a total of 31, more than last year's 26.
There have been 134 orbital launches worldwide this year, more than last year's 114, and 9 failures, slightly lower than last year's 10. Among them, China has failed 52 times and failed 3 times, the United States has 48 times and failed 3 times, and Russia has 23 times without failure.
The United States has one of the most important launches this year, using Europe's Ariane 5 rocket to send the $10 billion James Webb telescope into space, initially scheduled for December 22, but delayed until after the 24th.
In this way, the total number of launches in the United States in 2021 will be 52 or 51 (the Ariane 5 rocket is European), and China may have two more launches, so this year China will rank first in the number of launches. In the four years that began in 2018, China's rocket launches will rank first three times, but it was lower than the United States last year.
In addition, the 4 manned flights of Virgin Galactic and Amazon boss Bezos Blue Origin are not included in the launch list because these launches are suborbital flights and do not go into space. But Blue Origin is definitely not to be underestimated, Bezos is just moving a little too slowly, but last week his rockets have sent 6 people into suborbital at the same time, which has not been the case in many years.
Musk has urged Bezos to spend less time soaking in the bath and more on blue origin in an interview with the media on the 15th of this month. It seems that it is boring to have no competitors, and Musk has been alone.