SpaceX successfully launched Falcon 9 with a commercial satellite aboard

The SpaceX company for the first time after the accident of its launch vehicle carried out the successful launch of Falcon 9. This time the rocket sent a commercial satellite of the American company Iridium Communications into orbit. The launch vehicle was launched from the space center Vandenberg military airbase, which is located northwest of Los Angeles. The launch was carried out on Saturday, January 14, at 20:54 Moscow time.

Moreover, the company also managed to land the return first stage of its rocket, which landed on an offshore platform in the Pacific Ocean. Landing the return element of the carrier rocket on the offshore platform is a much more difficult task than landing the first stage on the land. Now SpaceX has seven steps that have been successfully returned to Earth. Some of them are planned to be used in subsequent launches of Falcon 9.

Due to the fact that the commercial launch was successful, the company is likely to be able to regain the trust of customers, some of whom, after the accident, decided to use the services of other space delivery operators. True, the company Iridium remained true to SpaceX. Both partners signed a contract last year for the delivery of ten communications satellites. The transaction amount is $ 492 PL.
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It is planned that the next launch will be carried out in three months, and then, if everything goes well, the launch will be carried out every two months. Initially, the grouping of its satellites Iridium planned to deploy in orbit this year, but due to the accident, the time had to be shifted to 2018.


As previously reported, the cause of the previous accident was a crack in the helium supply system to the tank with liquid oxygen, which, being supercooled, passed into the solid phase. This was the beginning of a series of interrelated reactions, which led to the catastrophe. In November, Musk stated the following: “I think we found out the cause of the incident. The most interesting thing is that nothing like this has ever happened in rocket science. ” He was referring to the confluence of circumstances that led to the appearance of the problem.

As a result of the accident, the commercial satellite Amos-6 was lost, which SpaceX was to put into orbit for the Israeli company Space Communications. The head of this company has already announced that he is going to either get a free re-launch, or else to collect $ 50 million from SpaceX.

The first stage of the Falcon 9 was originally planned as reusable. As conceived by SpaceX's leadership, due to the fact that one of the main components of the launch vehicle design can be reused (dozens or even hundreds of times, according to the head of the company Ilona Mask), the launch cost can be considerably cheaper. It is about cheaper by about a third. Unfortunately, for the time being it is impossible to check or disprove this, since the company has not yet re-launched any of the returned steps.


However, the company had previously announced which of the returned steps it plans to send back into space. This is an element of the CRS-8 mission launch vehicle, which landed on an unmanned floating barge in April 2016, when the Dragon space truck was sent into orbit. During the planned launch, an SES-10 geostationary communications satellite should be delivered to orbit. Unfortunately, due to the accident, the launch date had to be postponed and the date of the repeated flight of the restored stage is unknown.

The experience gained by SpaceX when returning the steps of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle is going to be used by the company when working with the much more powerful Falcon Heavy rocket . It can deliver approximately 54 tons of payload to a low reference orbit. The company is now planning to build additional landing sites for the steps of the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. According to the plan, all three stages are going to return - either everyone will be planted on land, or some will try to land on floating platforms in the Atlantic Ocean.

The document prepared by SpaceX for the US authorities provides data on the number of possible launches of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. As far as can be judged, the regulator allowed the company to make 12 launches and landings of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and its stages, as well as, in addition, 6 launches of Falcon Heavy with the potential possibility of returning 18 launch stages of this rocket per year (6 launches of 3 stages each These are 18 steps in the general offset). Now the authorities are considering the appeal SpaceX with a request to allow the creation of two additional launch sites.

"Our actions must meet US expectations that the delivery of cargo into space can be reduced, which will make the study of outer space more accessible," the document says.