Aiexpress – SpaceX successfully launched its 16th Falcon 9 rocket of the year on Tuesday, successfully placing a robust Indonesian communications satellite into orbit.
The Falcon 9 rocket took off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:11 p.m. EST, marking its 17th flight.
The rocket’s first stage propelled it out of the dense lower atmosphere before separating and autonomously landing on an offshore platform approximately eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. Following this, the second stage ascended further into space and deployed the Merah Putih 2 satellite, which began operating independently 25 minutes later.
The Merah Putih satellite, which translates to “red and white” in reference to Indonesia’s flag, is operated by the state-owned Telkomsat. Built by Thales Alenia Space at a cost of $240 million, this satellite is equipped with C-band and Ku-band transponders that offer data rates of up to 32 gigabytes per second. Its coverage spans across the entire country of Indonesia.
SpaceX has launched the second Telkomsat data relay station, a satellite designed to have a lifespan of 15 years.
Tuesday’s flight was the 16th launch of the Falcon 9 rocket this year for SpaceX, bringing the total number of launches since its debut in 2010 to 301. The company has achieved an impressive record of 275 successful first stage recoveries, with the last 201 recoveries in a row. SpaceX has ambitious plans to launch over 140 rockets this year, provided that the hardware and weather conditions align.
By the end of this month, the company plans to launch two additional Starlink flights, which will bring the total number of broadband data relay stations launched to nearly 5,900.
On March 1, three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, known as Crew-8, are set to launch to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, named “Endeavour,” will be embarking on its fifth flight, marking a new record for SpaceX’s fleet of ferry ships.
Crew-8 commander Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin are set to replace Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. The Crew-7 members were launched to the outpost in August last year.
Moghbeli and her crewmates have set their sights on returning to Earth around March 8. This will pave the way for the launch of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Onboard will be veteran cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, Belarus guest flier Marina Vasilevskaya, and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson.
Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya, accompanied by NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, are scheduled to make their return to Earth on April 2. To make their journey back, they will utilize the Soyuz MS-24/70S spacecraft, which initially transported O’Hara, Oleg Kononenko, and Nikolai Chub to the International Space Station in September of last year.
Kononenko and Chub are currently embarking on an incredible year-long journey in space. They will be joined by Dyson, and together they will return to Earth in September. The three astronauts will be traveling back on the Soyuz MS-25/71S spacecraft, which will be delivered by Novitskiy.
