Finally after trails SpaceX has successfully launched the SES-22 communications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit, before ending the first half of 2022 with already done 27 orbital launches under its belt. This launch is the SpaceX 35th Falcon 9 launch which was completed in 33 weeks.
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SpaceX 35th Falcon 9 launch has finally Happened
SES-22 is also SpaceX’s 35th launch since its last multi-week launch hiatus, which ended 33 weeks ago. SpaceX, in fact, achieve their target to launch 1 per 6.3 days can you imagine one rocket in less than one week over a 12-month period – it was not the actual goal of CEO Elon Musk’s but he said he will achieve that soon.
If things go well, Falcon will launch about once a week on average in 2022, delivering ~2/3 of all Earth payload to orbit
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2022
After a delay of two days , Falcon 9 lifted off without issue from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) LC-40 pad at 5:04 pm EDT. Flying for the second time by spacex , the booster B1073 carried the SES-22 satellite, payload fairing, and a roughly 100-ton (~220,000 lb) Falcon upper stage is almost the way out of Earth’s atmosphere before separating into parts, navigating back to Earth, and landing aboard drone ship a Shortfall because Of Gravitas (ASOG) some 666 kilometers (~413 mi) off the coast of Florida. Before touchdown, B1073 reached a maximum speed of 2.25 kilometers per second (Mach ~6.6 or 5000 mph) and covered 120 kilometers (~75 mi).
Falcon 9’s openable upper stage performed as expected by the spacex and propelled SES-22 into a temporary parking orbit before resuscitated to boost the satellite into the geostationary transfer orbit, where the it parted into ways.
The upper stage of falcon’s will then perform a third and final burn to lower its periapsis, ensuring it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere instead of becoming space debris. Spacex expected that SES-22 will take just one month to finish raising and circularizing its orbit, after which it will begin to provide US customers satellite TV and other communications services in August.
Why SES-22 Communication satellite launched?
SES-22 is just the first in few new satellites SES intends to launch this year, because it is meant to clear a particular section of radio spectrum because of that 5G networks will be benefited .
The FCC is paying SES and few other providers billions of dollars just to free up that spectrum.
After SES-22, SES intends to launch another two pairs of satellites – SES-18/19 and SES20/21 – on a Falcon 9 and Atlas V rocket before the end of year 2022, though delays are likely to happen but hope for best.
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Is SES-20 and SES-21 launch this year?
A ULA Atlas V rocket could launch the Boeing-built SES-20 and SES21 satellites in early or late of August or September, while spacex said target a Falcon 9 rocket could launch another pair of Northrop Grumman-built SES-18 and SES-19 satellites may be around the end of the year 2022, said Spaceflight Now.
Glimpse of another launches this year
SES-18/19 is one of the many of additional SpaceX Falcon launches planned for the second half of 2022 year. NextSpaceflight and several other unofficial manifests give a direct clue that SpaceX has 30-35 launches nominally scheduled before the end of 2022, which includes at least 10 Starlink missions. In the starting first half of the year,
SpaceX has managed 27 launches –which consist 15 Starlink missions and 12 commercial missions. While Elon must targets to launch at least 60 launches in 2022 in which he is half way their of achieving .
(If you want to know more about Elon Musk’s Starlink)
(Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches two Starlink missions successfully less than 24 hours)
SpaceX do the impossible by managing to launch one per week
This mission was SpaceX’s latest step towards conducting 52 launches this year as the company, which was earlier announced by Elon musk in January . As for the latest launch, it was the fourth launch by spacex and fourth landing for this particular Falcon 9 first stage booster. Previously, this falcon 9 has been used for missions such as the Arabsat-6A in April 2019,and for the Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) flight for the U.S. military in June 2019 and for the Italian Earth-observation satellite COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 in January 2022.
Conclusion
With this coming revolution in space industry by SpaceX we will be one step close to solve the unsolved mysteries of space . Spacex completed their target of one launch per week and will soon achieve target of 60 launches till the end of the year. Very soon he will also complete his all target.