SpaceX Falcon 9 makes 200th successful flight with launch
SpaceX managed a record seven launches in January, and has its first February liftoff under its belt with an early morning mission that marked the 200th successful launch for the workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX is now 200 for 201 attempts since Falcon 9’s first liftoff in 2010 with a single launch having suffered an explosion on liftoff back in 2015 during a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
Thursday’s liftoff took place at 2:58 a.m. with 53 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A.
The booster for the mission was making its fifth flight, and SpaceX once again was able to recover it down range in the Atlantic Ocean on the company’s droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
2022 saw a record 61 launches for the company across KSC, Cape Canaveral Space Force Base and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Elon Musk stated that 2023 could see as many as 100, which could include Starship orbital test flights from Texas. With seven launches per month, the company is on pace to complete 84 launches for the year.
Five of the seven launches in January were from the two Space Coast launch pads while two were from California.
Thursday’s liftoff marked the sixth Florida launch this year, all from SpaceX, but only the second from KSC following January’s Falcon Heavy liftoff. The rest have been from neighboring Cape Canaveral.
This was the 4th Starlink launch of 2023 and 73rd overall since the first operational deployment of the internet satellites in 2019. SpaceX has sent up more than 3,800 of the 570-pound satellites, according to statistics tracked by astronomer Jonathan McDowell. The Federal Communications Commission in late 2022 increased SpaceX’s license to allow for up to 7,500.
The launch is the 207th orbital flight for Musk’s company since the first successful Falcon 1 launch in 2008, which flew a second time in 2009 before Falcon 9’s debut. The company has also flown its powerhouse Falcon Heavy five times.
It has also stuck 169 booster landings so far, which include both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. The recoveries have allowed for 142 reflights, not having a failed landing since February 2021.