Elon Musk’s rocket crashes into the sea when it breaks down
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Status: 9:07 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
– – –This SpaceX rocket was the first to fail landing
Source: AFP / HANDOUT
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Elon Musk has launched 300 satellites weighing 260 kg each into space since May. Now one of his missiles missed the platform on landing and plunged into the sea. There is criticism of Musk’s assembly line satellite launches.
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BThere has been a small setback to Elon Musk’s incredible assembly line satellite launches. A rocket stage returning from space just missed the landing platform, which was bobbing 630 kilometers in front of the US spaceport Cape Canaveral in Florida in the Atlantic. The step plunged into the sea close to the platform with the painted saying “Of Course I Still Love You”. This was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the space company SpaceX. Only a few splashes of water were seen on TV pictures. This million-dollar recycling rocket stage is probably lost forever.
However, the actual mission was successful: During the flight, a further 60 Internet satellites were transported into space. This means that 300 of the 42,000 satellites planned for the Starlink project are now orbiting the earth. They are designed to enable Internet communication and high-performance data traffic from every corner of the world.
The return glitch on the Falcon 9 rocket can only happen to SpaceX – because no other space company worldwide has so far relied on recycling rockets, the first stage of which is reusable. Above all, that should save costs. SpaceX has already reused a rocket stage 32 times. For the stage that has now landed in the sea, it was already the fourth flight, also a new record. It was only in space 63 days ago. The comparatively young space company has never before launched a rocket stage into space again.
A satellite fleet has never been built so quickly
There is still no information about the reason for the missing landing platform. Extending the landing legs and the last braking maneuver was confirmed in the TV broadcast. A spokeswoman said the step was gentle on the sea but not on the platform, set up and not broken apart.
The billionaire Elon Musk has launched 300 of the approximately 260 kg satellites into space since May. Records in every way. Such a large fleet has never been built so quickly in space and it is far from finished. The project could also go public. Elon Musk plans to offer the first services with the Internet from space with around 720 satellites. The first stage of expansion would then be around 1,600 satellites orbiting the earth at a height of approximately 340 to 1150 kilometers. This year, two rockets, each with 60 Starlink satellites, are to take off each month if the weather is fine.
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