SpaceX is targeting to launch three rockets in three days from three different launch pads starting June 17, when the private spaceflight firm will loft 53 Starlink satellites into orbit from Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center of NASA in Florida.
Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California will follow Saturday morning to circle a radar satellite for the German military, with the third mission going back to Florida to launch a commercial communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, a Space.com report specified.
SpaceX to launch 3 rockets from 3 pads in 3 days this weekend https://t.co/12sXQhxIsk pic.twitter.com/JQvw3jvAFz
— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) June 16, 2022
If the launch triple-play succeeds, it could mark the "tightest-to-back" flights by SpaceX yet following flying the company on three missions between January 31 and February 3 earlier this year. The Elon Musk-led firm also aims to set a new record with one of its flights.
The Falcon 9 Rocket
The Falcon 9 rocket is taking off on Friday's mission, Starlink 4-19, and is making its 13th flight, the most of any Falcon 9, as it launches from Pad 39A.
Takeoff is set for a little over noon EDT. According to SpaceX, the Falon 9 initial stage has flown nine Starlink missions and four commercial flights.
When Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, unveiled the latest version of the company's workhorse, Falcon 9, the Block 5 variant, he said the booster was designed to fly up to 10 flights.
In its recent report, Aviation Week said the company aims to fly Falcon 9 rockets at least 15 times before their retirement. Currently, SpaceX has 21 Falcon rockets in its stable.
The SARah 1 System
SpaceX vice president of customer operations and integration, Jessica Jensen, said, the Falcon 9 flight components are now tested "up to four times their fatigue life for 15 missions."
If the Friday launch goes smoothly, the company will look to its launch pad at the California-based Vandenberg Space Force to launch SARah 1, an artificial aperture radar remote sensing satellite built by Airbus for the German military.
In a statement released, Airbus aid SARah is a new operational reconnaissance system that consists of numerous satellites and a ground segment, developed on behalf of the German Bundeswehr.
As specified in a similar Satellite News Network report, Jensen also said that as the successor system, SARah is a replacement for the SAR-Lupe system presently in service and offers substantially enhanced capability and system performance.
A Hope to Launch the Globalstar FM15
Once SARah 1 is in orbit, the attention of SpaceX will swing back to Florida, where it is hoping to launch the Globalstar FM15 communications satellite for Globalstar.
The said mission will launch off from the pad of SpaceX at Cape Canaveral Space Force Sation on Sunday, June 19, at 12:30 am.
Essentially, Globalstar FM15 is a spare satellite for the messaging and data relay satellite network of Globalstar. Observers can watch all three the launches of SpaceX on Space.com at launch time. The company is expected to provide live webcasts around 10 minutes before the launch.
Related information about the SpaceX rocket is shown on TODAY's YouTube video below:
RELATED ARTICLE: SpaceX Crew Dragon Undocks From the ISS
Check out more news and information on the SpaceX mission on Science Times.
