Falcon 9 rocket booster to its landing pad for the
irst time - and since then, 80 rocket landings
have been achieved, covering both land and sea
barges. SpaceX admits, however, that it doesn’t
always get it right: last year, it was reported
that Falcon 9 missed its landing because of “a
hole in a boot” - more still needs to be done to
maximize safety and reusability.
The B1051 booster is statistically the most
reused booster in the company’s arsenal,
managing nine uncrewed launches and
recoveries to date. SpaceX has also conirmed
that the latest boosters are designed to survive
10 lanches, with plans to push the limit even
further for uncrewed missions to test the
potential of the tech. Of course, limitations apply
when humans are involved, as it’s one thing to
lose a spacecraft, but another to lose astronauts.
SpaceX Dragon Capsules are expected to ly ive
times each, with some requiring refurbishments
between missions. Indeed, it’s not simply a case
of returning a capsule to earth and hopping
in for the next journey; every single element
is properly scrutinized to look for defects and
issues. In the years and decades ahead, that
scrutiny can be performed more and more by
machines, automating parts of the process and
helping to keep astronauts safe.
ENTER STARLINK
SpaceX is about much more than space
exploration - it’s about improving the lives of
people here on Earth. One of the ways in which
it’s doing that is through Starlink, a satellite
network designed to provide low-cost internet
to remote locations. The company says it wants
to have as many as 40,000 satellites in its own