SpaceX pulls off 30th Space Coast launch of the year – Orlando Sentinel
A SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral on Sunday evening marked the 30th of the year on the Space Coast.
A Falcon 9 carrying a communications satellite for Indonesia was lifted off Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 18.21
Take off! pic.twitter.com/NvRBKfsfWO
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 18 June 2023
The first booster for the mission made its 12th flight, and the company was able to recover the lower reach of the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic, the 201[ads1]st booster recovery ever among Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters since 2015.
The SATRA satellite for the Indonesian government and Indonesian satellite operator PSN is on its way to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The satellite will provide broadband internet and communication capabilities for public use in Indonesia’s rural regions.
The Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas pic.twitter.com/gGNYVw3IdB
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 18 June 2023
SpaceX has now flown 29 of the 30 launches so far this year from the Space Coast, with the only other coming from Relativity Space and the launch of the 3D-printed Terran 1 back in March.
It is the 240th orbital launch for the company since 2008 and the 128th from Cape Canaveral. SpaceX has had 40 launches so far this year, including launches in California. More than half have come from SLC-40. The site was leased to SpaceX in 2007 after supporting Titan launches from 1965-2005. It has so far since 2010 flown 194 Space Coast launches including launches from KSC in the last 13 years.
However, United Launch Alliance is scheduled for its first launch of the year early Wednesday.
In what will be the penultimate launch of a Delta IV Heavy, ULA looks set to fly the NROL-68 mission to launch a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. Liftoff from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 37 is scheduled for 03:29
The launch cadence is keeping pace that would break the 57 Space Coast launches seen in 2022.
