SpaceX will conduct its 65th and 66th launches in 2023.

 

SpaceX will conduct its 65th and 66th launches in 2023.

SpaceX is gearing up for a busy week with two consecutive Starlink missions on the horizon. The first mission, known as Starlink Group 7-2, is slated to launch 21 satellites into low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 4 East at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch is scheduled for Monday, September 11th, at 11:57 PM PDT (06:57 UTC on September 12th).

In a remarkable feat of efficiency, this mission will mark SpaceX's 51st launch from SLC-4E and boasts a turnaround time of just nine days, 16 hours, and 31 minutes. The quickest pad turnaround record was set in June between the Transporter-8 and Starlink Group 5-7 missions, coming in at a slightly shorter duration of nine days, nine hours, and 43 minutes.

As part of SpaceX's ambitious goal to launch 10 times per month by the end of 2023 and 12 times per month in 2024, the launch cadence from this pad has seen a significant increase. In mid-2022, the average turnaround time was around 40 days, but by the start of 2023, it had been reduced to approximately three weeks between flights. Presently, the pad maintains an impressive average of 11 to 13 days between missions.

To reach their ultimate goal of 144 launches, SpaceX aims to further reduce the turnaround to approximately six days. This would align with the cadence supported by the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” on the West Coast, which benefits from a closer proximity to the port. To achieve this goal, SpaceX may need to increase the number of return-to-launch site missions or even consider building another drone ship.

SLC-40 has also seen a remarkable increase in its launch cadence. In mid-2022, it launched missions every 11 to 13 days, but this frequency has been reduced to between five and six days between launches. In contrast, LC-39A's launch rate has remained relatively consistent, with a launch approximately every 30 days, due to necessary pad conversions for Falcon Heavy and Dragon missions.

For the Starlink Group 7-2 mission, the booster in use is B1071-11, which has an impressive track record, having supported 10 previous missions. After liftoff, it will attempt a landing on SpaceX's autonomous spaceport drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You," which was positioned 642 kilometers downrange with the support of GO Beyond.

Inside Falcon 9's 5.2-meter diameter payload fairing are 21 Starlink v2 Mini internet communication satellites. Both halves of the fairing, likely flight-proven, will be recovered by SpaceX's multi-purpose recovery vessel GO Beyond after the launch.

These satellites will be deployed just over an hour after launch into a low-Earth orbit of 286 by 297 kilometers, inclined at 53.05 degrees. Over the following weeks, they will use onboard argon thrusters to raise their orbit to a circular 525-kilometer orbit, inclined at 53.00 degrees.

Prior to these two Starlink missions, SpaceX had launched a total of 5,070 Starlink satellites. Currently, 4,724 of them remain in orbit, with 4,692 operational. The majority, 4,044 satellites, are in their operational orbits, primarily in the first-generation Starlink constellation, as SpaceX focuses on expanding its second-generation constellation.

This mission represents SpaceX's 255th Falcon 9 launch and the 65th launch of the year. Impressively, it also marks the 187th Falcon 9 launch with a flight-proven booster and the 195th total reuse of a Falcon core. The successful landing will be SpaceX's 225th of a Falcon core, with 151 successive successes in a row.

The launch timeline for the Starlink Group 7-2 mission is as follows:

00:01:12 - Max Q (Moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)

00:02:26 - 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)

00:02:29 - 1st and 2nd stages separate

00:02:35 - 2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)

00:03:03 - Fairing deployment

00:06:19 - 1st stage entry burn begins

00:06:42 - 1st stage entry burn ends

00:08:09 - 1st stage landing burn begins

00:08:30 - 1st stage landing

00:08:38 - 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)

00:53:24 - 2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)

00:53:26 - 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)

01:02:19 - Starlink satellites deploy

Next up, the Starlink Group 6-16 mission, which will be SpaceX's 62nd Falcon 9 mission of 2023, is set to launch 22 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a low-Earth orbit of approximately 284 by 294 kilometers, inclined at 43.00 degrees. The booster for this mission has not yet been revealed, but it is expected to land around 640 kilometers downrange on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions."