If you ask which rocket has launched the most spacecraft in the history of astronautics? Many friends should think that it may be the United States' "Saturn V", Russia's "Energy" and other giant rockets, Saturn V's near-earth capacity can reach 118 tons, Russia's energy near-earth capacity can reach 130 tons, and now the United States' Space Launch System (SLS) capacity is stronger, but the rocket that has launched the most spacecraft so far in the history of aerospace is not them, but the Falcon 9 B1058 rocket of Musk's SpaceX.
The B1058 Falcon 9 core first stage rocket is often called a booster, but in fact, it is actually the first stage rocket of the Falcon 9. Since its first launch in 2020, it has made 19 attendances, launched 869 satellites and two spacecraft into space, sent two astronauts to the space station, and helped South Korea launch the ANASIS-II military communications satellite with a total payload of about 260 tons. Ranked first among all rockets that have been launched by mankind.
It launched 869 spacecraft, far more than any non-reusable rocket, and far more than any other rocket such as Saturn V and Energy in terms of payload weight of nearly 260 tons.
In fact, although both Saturn V and Energy have a capacity of more than 100 tons in low-Earth orbit, in practice, the payload weight of the launch never exceeds 100 tons.
In fact, the number and payload weight of satellites and other spacecraft launched by this Falcon 9 B1058 core-class rocket exceed the number and payload weight of spacecraft launched by any other country other than China, the United States and Russia in history, and it is only the first-stage core stage of a rocket, or a booster, which shows how high its space launch achievements are.
The reason why the Falcon 9 B1058 core stage has achieved such a dazzling space launch achievement is due to its stable reuse ability, and the brilliant space achievement is that it has completed 19 launch missions, and it is also the most used rocket so far.
In fact, it could have continued to serve and create more brilliant space launch achievements, but after completing the mission of launching 23 satellites on December 23 this year and recovering them at sea, it fell into the sea due to too much wind and waves in the process of transporting it back to Naviral Port, and the rocket body has been damaged, and the core-stage rocket has basically died.
The rocket with the largest payload in history has finally been retired! However, because there are nine reusable liquid oxygen and kerosene engines on the rocket, although some of the engine vents have been damaged, most of the engines are intact, so it is very likely that these engines will be dismantled and continue to be used to continue to create greater value.
To date, Musk's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are still the only multiplexable rockets in service in the world, and it is precisely because of their reusability that their space launch costs are very low, and each launch only needs simple maintenance and refueling, and SpaceX has grown into the world's largest commercial launch company.
Since Starlink requires a large number of internet-connected satellites to build, the company has launched more spacecraft than any country in the world. Of all the spacecraft operating in outer space today, Musk's SpaceX company accounts for more than half.
Although the mainland does not yet have a reusable rocket, a number of aerospace companies are stepping up the research and development of such rockets, and it is estimated that such rockets will be put into use in the next one or two years, and the number of rocket launches will also increase, and the mainland's aerospace industry will open a new page in 2024.
Source: "IT House" reported on December 27 that "SpaceX Falcon 9 booster B1058 "died", just set a record of 19 reuses"