SpaceX
SpaceX completes 70th space mission of 2024
On July 11, 2024, SpaceX launched the 70th space mission with Falcon 9 rocket. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had achieved 67 missions in the first half of this year. In less than 10 days, it has added 3 new missions to the tally.
Falcon launched 67 missions in the first 6 months of 2024, delivering nearly 900 metric tons to orbit so far this year pic.twitter.com/d6GKrdagDm
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 3, 2024
The latest carried a payload of 20 Starlink satellites among the 13 new direct-to-cell satellites. These are part of the new expansion for this direct mobile service launching later this year.
The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Station in California. The weather remained favorable above 70 percent for this mission, enabling the company to proceed with propellant loading. Despite good weather, the fog covered the entire launch and there were no clear visuals of the ascent.
Watch Falcon 9 launch 20 @Starlink satellites to orbit from California, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities https://t.co/aXuY7ZXXrO
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 12, 2024
After hot-staging the first stage returned to Earth and landed on a droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean. This was the 19th flight for the booster and previously supported Sentinel-6 Michale Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, and 13 Starlink missions.
(source)
