Elon Musk Lauds SpaceX After Falcon 9 Successfully Made 3 ‘Flawless Launches’ in 2 Days

Tesla CEO Elon Musk complimented the SpaceX crew on three "flawless launches" in less than a week after more than 400 SpaceX employees signed an open letter denouncing the entrepreneur over his behavior.

Elon Musk tweeted: "Congrats to SpaceX Falcon team for executing 3 flawless launches in 2 days!"

SpaceX's successful launches in 36.5 hours, according to Teslarati, are only a continuation of that record. SpaceX conducted three of the six launches in 69 hours during the same four-week timeframe towards the end of 2021.

SpaceX accomplished it again two months later, launching three Falcon 9 rockets in 67 hours from all three of its Falcon launch sites.

SpaceX Successfully Conducts 3 Launches in 2 Days

According to SpaceNews, the streak of launches began on June 17 with a Falcon 9 flight from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. At 12:09 p.m. ET, the rocket launched 53 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch rocket flew for the 13th time, landing on a drone ship, setting a new corporate record for booster reuse.

The second launch occurred at 10:19 a.m. ET on June 18 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California's Space Launch Complex 4E. The SARah-1 radar imaging satellite, manufactured by Airbus for the German military as a successor to the current SAR-Lupe system, was launched into orbit by the Falcon 9. The German military later verified payload deployment and successful communication with the four-ton satellite after SpaceX released restricted details about the launch, comparable to limits for secret US flights. The launcher, which had previously flown two National Reconnaissance Office missions, has returned to the launch site.

At 12:27 a.m. Eastern on June 19, the final and maybe most mysterious launch occurred from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Globalstar FM15, a spare satellite for low-earth-orbit satellite operator Globalstar, was the sole payload detected on the flight. Nearly two hours after liftoff, the satellite was launched from the upper stage.

Observers were led to believe that Globalstar FM15 was not the sole payload on the launch by several elements of the operation. Even while the Globalstar satellite, weighing about 700 kilograms, was tiny enough to allow a landing back at the launch site, the upper stage performed an unusual series of three burns and the first stage droneship landing.

After the fairing separation, SpaceX did not share footage of the cargo at first but did after the second fire. Not only did those images reveal the Globalstar satellite, but they also revealed what seemed to be a payload adaptor. This might indicate that the rocket contained one or more payloads launched after the upper stage's initial burn. However, it's possible that the launch was planned to carry additional payloads but was instead launched without them.

Next SpaceX Developments

Meanwhile, Musk has stated that the Starship prototype rocket would be ready to fly by July.

The schedule was also pushed back due to difficulties in the development process and regulatory approval.

Before filing for a launch license for the flight test, the corporation must complete more than 75 of the agency's tasks.

Musk also said a second Starship stack would be ready to fly in August, with monthly flights planned.

SpaceX is working on a reusable Starship rocket that can transport freight and passengers beyond Earth. SpaceX's Raptor engines power the rocket and its Super Heavy booster.

The business has failed to reach space despite having accomplished multiple high-altitude flight tests.

Aside from that, the business is working on the real potential of settling on Mars, and Musk believes that if all goes according to plan, the first Martian colony will be established by 2029.

Elon Musk Fires At Least 5 Workers

CNN, citing two people familiar with the situation, said SpaceX dismissed at least five workers after discovering they had created and shared a letter criticizing SpaceX founder Elon Musk and pushing officials to make the company's culture more inclusive.

According to The Verge, hundreds of employees signed an open letter denouncing CEO Elon Musk after it was uploaded and circulated by coworkers in an internal conversation.

The internal home page for the document was taken offline just 32 hours after it was posted. At the same time, several employees were dismissed for their role in writing and publishing the letter, a move that may have violated labor law.

At noon Eastern, the open letter went online on an internal landing page. A small group of employees shared it with about ten Microsoft Teams chat rooms and one email list. The contents were brash: the employees claimed that Musk's recent actions had caused humiliation and distraction for the organization.

The letter writers suggested that SpaceX separate itself from Musk's Twitter presence and better hold executives and perpetrators of sexual harassment accountable.

According to one individual involved, while the paper received 404 signatures, many more people contacted those who published the letter on Signal, in person, and through Teams, stating they would sign if they could afford to be fired right now.

Another Musk business, Tesla, dismissed an employee in 2017 for passing out leaflets encouraging employees to join a union. Earlier this year, Elon Musk tweeted that he would make a "hardcore litigation department" to "directly initiate and execute lawsuits."

Their worries were realized, as at least five SpaceX employees were fired due to their involvement with the letter. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president, then wrote an email to the company, criticizing the paper and alerting them of the layoffs.

Check out more news and information on SpaceX in Science Times.