Reuse milestones

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Forgot to post this for the 1st booster to achieve 16 flights (now there are two such boosters!)

https://twitter.com/_rykllan/status/1678281088681009152

Recent 24th #Starlink launch of this year via #SpaceX's #Falcon9 vehicle

#Space

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Now the most used 5 boosters have 75 successful flights between them, an average of 15 each.

#SpaceX's #Falcon9 & #FalconHeavy flightworthy boosters as of Aug 3, 2023

https://twitter.com/_rykllan/status/1687190691334512640

Statistics of #SpaceX's #Falcon9 & #FalconHeavy booster missions as of Aug 3, 2023

[Barley]

If I can add correctly Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have now had more successful launches that all versions Ariane. 

Ariane is still ahead on launch attempts.

[meadows.st]

If I can add correctly Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have now had more successful launches that all versions Ariane. 

Ariane is still ahead on launch attempts.

Not to mention (also if i can add correctly) 148 re-flights to date which, of course, is remarkable by any standards. By comparison, [from ULA's website today...]  "ULA has successfully delivered more than 150 missions to orbit" -  and from Wikipedia today a total of <130 Atlas V (completed and planned) and <50 Delta IV (completed and planned).

I can't wait until this is the norm for all spaceflight operators!

[spacenut]

If I can add correctly Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have now had more successful launches that all versions Ariane. 

Ariane is still ahead on launch attempts.

Not to mention (also if i can add correctly) 148 re-flights to date which, of course, is remarkable by any standards. By comparison, [from ULA's website today...]  "ULA has successfully delivered more than 150 missions to orbit" -  and from Wikipedia today a total of <130 Atlas V (completed and planned) and <50 Delta IV (completed and planned).

I can't wait until this is the norm for all spaceflight operators!

Atlas V and Delta IV were once and done rockets over about 20 years.  SpaceX is blowing past those two with one rocket type. 

[DanClemmensen]

If I can add correctly Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have now had more successful launches that all versions Ariane. 

Ariane is still ahead on launch attempts.

Not to mention (also if i can add correctly) 148 re-flights to date which, of course, is remarkable by any standards. By comparison, [from ULA's website today...]  "ULA has successfully delivered more than 150 missions to orbit" -  and from Wikipedia today a total of <130 Atlas V (completed and planned) and <50 Delta IV (completed and planned).

I can't wait until this is the norm for all spaceflight operators!

Atlas V and Delta IV were once and done rockets over about 20 years.  SpaceX is blowing past those two with one rocket type.

ULA Also launched the Delta II until its retirement in 2018.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

SpaceX’s booster recovery record breaking run continues:

https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1700348995573334392

Touchdown! And that marks the milestone of 150 successful landings in a row for the Falcon orbital class booster!

[AmigaClone]

SpaceX’s booster recovery record breaking run continues:

https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1700348995573334392

Touchdown! And that marks the milestone of 150 successful landings in a row for the Falcon orbital class booster!

225 successful orbital launches in a row for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Over twice it's closest competitors (Delta II with 100 and Atlas V with 97 consecutive successful launches.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Now less than 24 hours from planned new reuse record:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-6-17
B1060 is flying for the 17th time.

SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, September 19 at 10:47 p.m. ET (02:47 UTC on September 20) for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. If needed, four backup opportunities are available between 11:38 p.m. ET (03:38 UTC on September 20) and 1:46 a.m. ET (05:46 UTC on September 20). Five backup opportunities are also currently available on Wednesday, September 20 starting at 10:22 p.m. ET (02:22 UTC on September 21) until 1:21 a.m.ET (05:21 UTC on September 21).

This is the 17th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, marking the first Falcon 9 booster to reach this milestone. It previously launched GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6, and 11 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Short Fall of Gravitas, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

A change in booster but still a record:

https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1704345802557014151

New Record! B1058 (SpaceX changed it from 1060) is the first Falcon booster to complete 17 missions! Touchdown on SpaceX drone ship "A Shortfall Of Gravitas"

[Brigantine]

If I haven't missed something, and everything proceeds successfully on schedule...

The next launch "Starlink Group 6-18" in 2 days' time landing on JRTI will mark the first time 6 landings in a calendar month happen on drone ships out of the same port/coast.
[5 in a month occurred in 2021-03, 2022-04, 2023-02, 2023-03, 2023-07, 2023-08 and then again 2 days ago]

The following launch "Starlink Group 7-3" 1½ days later landing on OCISLY will make it a record 8 drone ship landings in a calendar month - irrespective of port/coast.
[7 in a month occurred in March, July and August this year]

March 2021 is the only time so far there have been 4 landings on the same drone ship (OCISLY, east coast), with no sign of it happening again soon.
[EDIT: with "Starlink Group 6-19" now possibly being a record 4th landing on ASOG before the month is out - NET Sep 28]

P.S. your mileage may vary based on time zones, I suspect this is for UTC calendar months. "Starlink Group 6-13" landed on ASOG on Sept 1, though it may have been Aug 31 local time.

[gsa]

[5 in a month occurred in 2021-03, 2022-04, 2023-02, 2023-03, 2023-07, 2023-08 and then again 2 days ago]

What is your source for 5 flights in March '21?

March 2021 is the only time so far there have been 4 landings on the same drone ship (OCISLY, east coast), with no sign of it happening again soon.
[EDIT: with "Starlink Group 6-19" now possibly being a 4th landing on ASOG before the month is out - NET Sep 28]

The 2nd and the 3rd launches (of 4) in March '21 were only 3 days apart. I really haven't checked but I seriously doubt they did land on the same drone ship...

[Brigantine]

You're right. 1058.6 was on JRTI, and 1059.6 (recovery failure) was in February.
Source: Wikipedia "Landing Location"

1048.8, 1051.9 and 1060.6 were on OCISLY
So the record so far for landings on a single drone ship in a calendar month is 3.
(in 2021-03 OCISLY, 2022-04 JRTI, 2022-08 ASOG, 2023-02 ASOG, 2023-03 JRTI, 2023-07 ASOG, 2023-08 JRTI and 3 days ago ASOG)

I have corrected the other post to reflect this

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Yet another big reuse milestone:

https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1705794254226718879

On Falcon's 200th reuse of a booster, B1060 becomes the second F9 booster to complete 17 missions.

154 successful landings in a row.

I’m not sure what I’m more surprised by, how quickly SpaceX got to 200 or the fact that all other orbital launch providers are still at zero.

[steveleach]

I’m not sure what I’m more surprised by, how quickly SpaceX got to 200 or the fact that all other orbital launch providers are still at zero.

Low flight rate kept costs high, and high costs kept flight rates low.

SpaceX attacked the problem from both sides, with re-usability driving costs down and Starlink driving flight rates up.  This required both vision and (significant) investment.

After that it didn't take long for the two curves (cost impact on flight rate and flight rate impact on cost) to meet, at which it becomes self-reinforcing, and the investment is returned.

Unfortunately for the rest of the industry, these rewards are only available to SpaceX. To benefit from the demand-side, another launcher would need to use the StarLink demand, driving revenue towards their competitor on the supply-side.

Eventually SpaceX will move the industry beyond satellites and science missions, at which point other high-volume launch markets will open up independent of SpaceX, allowing competitors back in.

[Robotbeat]

There’s no shortage of demand right now. There’s OneWeb and Kuiper plus an explosion of growth in every other kind of satellite, too. Multiple other constellations as well.

Falcon 9 eats them up because the other rockets just aren’t available.

[john smith 19]

I’m not sure what I’m more surprised by, how quickly SpaceX got to 200 or the fact that all other orbital launch providers are still at zero.

But to do so they either have to a)Accept SX's plan and follow it or b)Come up with their own plan.

Common "wisdom" has always been that the (perceived) higher up front development costs could only be afforded by having a large demand up front. Chicken and egg. The fact that SX's work have shown most (all) of the suggestions made in the 60s and 70s for stage recovery were wishful thinking made the process harder.

So far only Stoke has been prepared to do go with another solution.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Meanwhile, back on topic … the latest Starlink launch statistic brings home how frequent F9 reuse is:

As Alex said on the NSF stream, the 11th booster to achieve 10 flights!

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1707940769821335590

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Crosspost:

https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1720603482980241622

And after the record is broken during launch, the 18th flight of a booster successfully lands! Will it get a 19th launch next!

[FutureSpaceTourist]

18 flights in 3.5 years is quite a record:

https://twitter.com/_rykllan/status/1720821010834846169

Recent 52nd #Starlink launch of this year via #SpaceX's #Falcon9 vehicle

#Space