It’s actually amazing how it stuck the landing. It seems like that’s the hard part. The explosion was from a gas leak after the successful landing, seems like something that can be fixed relatively easily considering how difficult launching and landing is.
Starlink-20 mission
Mission Overview
The 20th operational batch of Starlink satellites (21st overall) will lift off from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral, on a Falcon 9 rocket. In the weeks following deployment the Starlink satellites will use onboard ion thrusters to reach their operational altitude of 550 km. Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land on a droneship approximately 633 km downrange.
This will be the 6th flight for the Falcon 9 booster B1058, which last flew in January 2021 for the Transporter-1 mission. It also flew DM-2, ANASIS-II and a dedicated Starlink mission.
| Payload | 60 Starlink V1.0 |
| Payload mass | ≈15,600 kg (Starlink ~260 kg each) |
| Destination orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~ 261km x 278km 53° |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | B1058.6 |
| Flights of this core | 5 (DM-2, ANASIS-II, Starlink-12, CRS-21, Transporter-1) |
| Fairing | recovery scoping the fairing halves from the water |
| Launch site | SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station |
| Landing site | JRTI (~633 km downrange) |
Stats
- 110th Falcon 9 launch
- 6th flight of B1058
- 5th Starlink launch this year
- The previous Starlink flight was Starlink-17
Starlink-21 mission
Mission Overview
SpaceX is targeting Sunday, March 14 for launch of 60 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon 9 first stage rocket booster supporting this mission previously supported launch of Crew Dragon’s first demonstration mission, RADARSAT Constellation Mission, SXM-7, and five Starlink missions. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be located in the Atlantic Ocean. Falcon 9’s fairing previously flew on the Transporter-1 mission.
| Type | Name | Location |
|---|---|---|
| First stage | Falcon 9 v1.2 - Block 5 (Full Thrust) - B1051 -  8 |
KSC LC-39A |
| Second stage | Falcon 9 v1.2 - Block 5 (Full Thrust) | KSC LC-39A |
| Fairing recovery | GO Searcher | Atlantic Ocean |
| Fairing recovery | GO Navigator | Atlantic Ocean |
| ASDS | Of Course I Still Love You | Atlantic Ocean |
| Tug | Hawk | Atlantic Ocean |
| Support ship | GO Quest | Atlantic Ocean |
Lot of facts
This will be the 8th SpaceX launch this year.
This will be the 112th Falcon 9 launch.
This will be the 9th journey to space of the Falcon 9 first stage B1051.
This will be the 21st operational Starlink mission.
More space trash launched.
Starlink-22 mission
Launch: 4:28 pm CST | March 24, 2021
Mission Overview
he 22th operational batch of Starlink satellites (23rd overall) will lift off from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral, on a Falcon 9 rocket. In the weeks following deployment the Starlink satellites will use onboard ion thrusters to reach their operational altitude of 550 km. Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land on a droneship approximately 633 km downrange.
This will be the 6th flight for the Falcon 9 booster B1060, which last flew in February 2021 for the Starlink 18 mission. It also flew GPS III SV 3, as well as Starlink 11, 14 and turksat-5A
| Payload mass | ≈15,600 kg (Starlink ~260 kg each) |
| Flights of this core | 5 (GPS III SV 3, Starlink 11, 14, 18, Turksat-5A) |
| Payload | 60 Starlink V1.0 |
| Core | B1060.6 |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Destination orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~ 261km x 278km 53° |
| Landing site | OCISLY (~633 km downrange) |
| Fairing recovery | scoping the fairing halves from the water |
| Launch site | SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station |
Stats
This will be the 9th SpaceX launch this year.
This will be the 113th Falcon 9 launch.
This will be the 6th journey to space of the Falcon 9 first stage B1060.
This will be the 22nd operational Starlink mission.
“The satellites are designed autonomously avoid collisions based on uplinked tracking data. At the end of life, the Starlink satellites are to be actively deorbited, leading to reentry.”
Starlink-23 mission
Mission Overview
Starlink-23 will lift off from SLC-40. Cape Canaveral, on a Falcon 9 rocket. In the weeks following deployment, the 60 Starlink satellites will use their onboard ion thrusters to reach their operational altitude of 550 km.
This will be the 7th flight of B1058, but there are several more interesting facts around it, worth mentioning:
B1058 holds the bragging rights for launching the first crewed orbital mission in the US since the end of the Space Shuttle era in 2011 the first Falcon 9 booster to fly a ‘Transporter’ rideshare mission - and with a record 143 satelites, that is the main protagonist in SpaceX’ 100th successfull Falcon 9 launch (CRS-21, December 6th 2020) carried the first upgraded Cargo Dragon v.2 for the aforementioned mission the quickest booster to reach 3 flights - in only 129 days during its ANASIS-II flight, it achieved record (for the time) turnaround of 51 days. This was also the first SpaceX launch, where both fairing halves were successfully caught on the Ms Tree & Ms Chief launched a total of 130 Starlink sats, which includes two batches of 60 for Starlink 12 & 20, as well as 10 more on the Transporter-1 misssion.
| Payload | 60 Starlink V1.0 |
| Payload mass | 15,600 kg (60 * 260 kg) |
| Destination orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~ 261km x 278km 53° |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | B1058.7 |
| Flights of this core | 6 (Demo-2, ANASIS-II, Starlink-12, Transporter-1, CRS-21, Starlink-20) |
| Launch site | SLC-40 |
| Landing site | OCISLY (~633 km downrange) |
Stats
This will be the 10th SpaceX launch this year.
This will be the 113th Falcon 9 launch.
This will be the 7th journey to space of the Falcon 9 first stage B1058.
27 days since B1058 last flight - equals B1060’s record from February
This will be the 23rd operational Starlink mission.
Crew-2 mission
Mission Overview
SpaceX’s second operational crewed mission to the ISS. This time Crew Dragon is going to carry four astronauts including two international astronauts to space.
The Crew
Shane Kimbrough (NASA, Spacecraft Commander)
Robert Shane Kimbrough (born June 4, 1967) is a retired United States Army officer, and a NASA astronaut. He was part of the first group of candidates selected for NASA astronaut training following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Kimbrough is a veteran of two spaceflights, the first being a Space Shuttle flight, and the second being a six-month mission to the ISS on board a Russian Soyuz craft. He was the commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 50, and returned to Earth in April 2017. He is married to the former Robbie Lynn Nickels.
Katherine Megan McArthur (NASA, Pilot)
Katherine Megan McArthur (born August 30, 1971) is an American oceanographer, engineer, and a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut. She has served as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for both the space shuttle and space station. Megan McArthur has flown one space shuttle mission, STS-125. She is known as the last person to be hands on with the Hubble Space Telescope via the Canadarm. McArthur has served in a number of positions including working in the Shuttle Avionics Laboratory (SAIL). She is married to fellow astronaut Robert L. Behnken (DM-2, Pilot).
Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA, Mission Specialist)
Akihiko Hoshide (星出 彰彦, Hoshide Akihiko, born December 28, 1968) is a Japanese engineer and JAXA astronaut. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space.
Thomas Pesquet (ESA, Mission Specialist)
Thomas Gautier Pesquet (born 27 February 1978 in Rouen) is a French aerospace engineer, pilot, and European Space Agency astronaut. Pesquet was selected by ESA as a candidate in May 2009,[1] and he successfully completed his basic training in November 2010.[2] From November 2016 to June 2017, Pesquet was part of Expedition 50 and Expedition 51 as a flight engineer.
| Spacecraft Commander | Shane Kimbrough, NASA Astronaut @astro_kimbrough |
| Pilot | Megan McArthur, NASA Astronaut @Astro_Megan |
| Mission Specialist | Akihiko Hoshide, JAXA Astronaut @aki_hoshide |
| Mission Specialist | Thomas Pesquet, ESA Astronaut @Thom_astro |
| Destination orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~400 km x 51.66°, ISS rendezvous |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | B1061 (Previous: Crew-1) |
| Capsule | Crew Dragon C206 “Endeavour” (Previous: DM-2) |
| Duration of visit | ~6 months |
| Launch site | LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| Landing | ASDS: 32.15806 N, 76.74139 W (541 km downrange) |
| Mission success criteria | Successful separation and deployment of Dragon into the target orbit; rendezvous and docking to the ISS; undocking from the ISS; and reentry, splashdown and recovery of Dragon and crew. |
Stats
This will be the 11th SpaceX launch this year.
This will be the 114th Falcon 9 launch.
This will be the 2nd journey to space of the Falcon 9 first stage B1060.
2nd Flight of C206 “Endeavour”
This will be the 2nd operational Crew Rotation mission.
First Flight on a reused capsule and booster
What a show!
Starlink-24 mission
Mission Overview
The 24th operational batch of Starlink satellites (25th overall) will lift off from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral, on a Falcon 9 rocket. In the weeks following deployment the Starlink satellites will use onboard ion thrusters to reach their operational altitude of 550 km. Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land on a droneship approximately 632 km downrange.
| Payload | 60 Starlink version 1 satellites |
| Payload mass | ~15,600 kg (Starlink ~260 kg each) |
| Deployment orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~ 261 x 278 km 53° (?) |
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | 1060.7 |
| Past flights of this core | 6 |
| Launch site | SLC-40, Florida |
| Landing | Droneship JRTI ~ (632 km downrange) |
Stats
This will be the 13th SpaceX launch this year.
This will be the 116th Falcon 9 launch.
This will be the 9th journey to space of the Falcon 9 first stage B1049.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1387613999257112577
Starlink-25 mission
Mission Overview
The 25th operational batch of Starlink satellites (26th overall) will lift off from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral, on a Falcon 9 rocket. In the weeks following deployment the Starlink satellites will use onboard ion thrusters to reach their operational altitude of 550 km. Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land on a droneship approximately 632 km downrange.
| Payload | 60 Starlink version 1 satellites |
| Payload mass | ~15,600 kg (Starlink ~260 kg each) |
| Deployment orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~ 261 x 278 km 53° |
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | 1049.9 |
| Past flights of this core | 8 |
| Past flights of this fairing | One half has been flown 2 times |
| Launch site | LC-39A, Florida |
| Landing | Droneship OCISLY ~ (632 km downrange) |
Stats
This will be the 13th SpaceX launch this year.
This will be the 116th Falcon 9 launch.
This will be the 9th journey to space of the Falcon 9 first stage B1049.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1389656534167162882
Starship SN15 High-Altitude Hop
Starship Serial Number 15 - Hop Test #1
Starship SN15, equipped with three sea-level Raptor engines will attempt a high-altitude hop at SpaceX’s development and launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. The flight profile is likely to follow closely previous Starship test flights and SpaceX will be targeting a successful take-off, ascent to apogee, transition to horizontal, descent, engine re-ignition, re-orientation and touchdown.
The vehicle is expected ascend to an altitude of approximately 10km, before moving from a vertical orientation (as on ascent), to horizontal orientation, in which the broadside (+ x) of the vehicle is oriented towards the ground. At this point, Starship will attempt an unpowered return to launch site (RTLS), using its aerodynamic control surfaces (ACS) to adjust its attitude and fly a course back to the landing pad. In the final stages of the descent, all three Raptor engines will ignite to transition the vehicle to a vertical orientation and perform a propulsive landing. The exact launch time may not be known until just a few minutes before launch, and will be preceded by a local siren about 10 minutes ahead of time.
SpaceX is pushing for orbital test flights of the Starship vehicle later this year, and Starship SN15 has numerous significant upgrades over previous flight test vehicles. These upgrades are likely intended to improve the reliability of the propellant systems and Raptor engines, which have been the primary cause of previous failed landing attempts. The vehicle also carries substantially more thermal protection tiles than have been seen on previous prototypes.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1390073153347592192
https://twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1390125636417642496
OK, I guess this goes here. Elon Musk informs us he has Asperger’s.
SO, not alien. Just Asperger’s.