SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA at 2248 GMT on 16 December 2022. The vehicle was carrying O3b mPOWER 1 & 2, a pair of 1,200 kg Boeing 702X bus communications satellites, on their way to medium Earth orbit (MEO). They are the second generation satellites for the O3b network – a competitor to SpaceX’s own Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellite constellation. The reusable B1067 First stage – on its eighth flight – successfully landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic.
Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 launches 60 Starlink satellites (Group 4-34). Courtesy: SpaceX
As a follow up, just next door to Cape Canaveral, SpaceX successfully launched another Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, USA at 2132 GMT on 17 December 2022. The vehicle was carrying 54 290 kg SpaceX-built Starlink communications satellites as part of Group 4-37. The B1058 First stage successfully landed on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions located down range in the Atlantic Ocean. This “old stager” first stage was on its 15th flight. This was the 59th SpaceX launch of the year.
Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 launches first pair of O3b mPower satellites. Courtesy: SpaceX
