Published 15:22 IST, July 21st 2020
SpaceX sets record for rocket turnaround time with S Korea's 1st military satellite launch
On July 20, Falcon 9 booster B1058 took off for the second time in 51 days. SpaceX Falcon 9 booster has broken a decade's old long record.
- Science News
- 2 min read
National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Shuttle reuse record has finally been broken by the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster after launching a South Korean military satellite and landing on a drone ship. Falcon 9 booster B1058 took off for the second time in 51 days on July 20.
Space X does wonders
The Space Shuttle’s 35-year-old turnaround record was beaten on July 20. B1058 supported Crew Dragon’s inaugural NASA astronaut launch, making it a historic moment in SpaceX’s 18-year-long history. This came just before its successful launch of South Korea’s Lockheed Martin-built ANASIS II military communications satellite. Just two months after setting these records, the shuttle has broken the most significant record in the history of reusable rockets.
Space Shuttle Atlantis and Falcon 9 booster B1058 have both set records. Both the boosters set their turnaround records on their first and second launches respectively. Shuttle Atlantis went ahead to launch 31 more times after two major overhauls in the years 1989 and 1997. It was the last Space Shuttle to launch when it completed the STS-135 mission in June 2011. It was more than three years ago that SpaceX began experimenting with fairing recovery and started trying to catch fairing halves in February 2018. And it's on July 20 that it has finally achieved its goal.
CEO Elon Musk said that SpaceX managed to achieve this after tons of failure that came there way for more than three years. Achievement being, catching both the payload fairing halves for the first time ever. He also revealed that the ANASIS II mission was involved in another major rocket reusability breakthrough as well. He came on to social media and made a tweet.
Various social media users came forward and congratulated Elon Musk on his tweet. People were eager to see footage of the record-breaking SpaceX. People also applauded the smooth landing.
(Image Credits: Twitter/SpaceX)
Updated 15:22 IST, July 21st 2020