SpaceX Starlink Mission 17-42 Launched

Ajouté : 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Mission engines full power and lift off. Go Starlink, go Falcon.

[00:00:16]Vehicle is pitching down range.

[00:00:20]M1D chamber pressures are nominal.

[00:00:22]SpaceX Starlink mission 17 and 42.

[00:00:25]SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched 24 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from space launch complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This was the second flight for the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched one Starlink mission. Following first stage separation, the first stage booster landed on the off-course I still love you drone ship, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX's Falcon 9 is a reusable two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond.

[00:01:04]Falcon 9 is the world's first orbital class reusable rocket. This reusability allows SpaceX to re-fly the most expensive part of the rocket, which in turn drive down the cost of space access.

[00:01:17]Falcon 9 first stage incorporate nine Merlin engines and aluminum lithium alloy tanks containing liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene propellant. Falcon 9 generate more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust at the sea level. The nine Merlin engines on the first stage are gradually throttled near the end of the first stage flight to limit the launch vehicle acceleration as the rocket's mass decreases with the burning of fuel.

[00:01:43]These engines are also used to reorient the first stage prior to re-entry and to decelerate the vehicle for landing.

[00:01:51]Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles.

[00:02:00]Merlin engines uses a rocket grade kerosene propellant and liquid oxygen as a rocket propellant in a gas generator power cycle. The Merlin engines was originally designed for recovery and reuse. Merlin vacuum features a larger exhaust section and a significantly larger expansion nozzle to maximize the engine's efficiency in the vacuum of space. Its combustion chamber is regeneratively cooled while the expansion nozzle is radiatively cooled.

[00:02:28]At full power, the Merlin vacuum operates with the greatest efficiency ever for an American-made hydrocarbon rocket engine.

[00:02:36]The Falcon 9 first stage is equipped with four landing legs made of state-of-the-art carbon fiber with aluminum honeycomb. Placed symmetrically around the base of the rocket, they are stubbed at the base of the vehicle and deployed just prior to landing. The interstage is a composite structure that connects first and the second stages and houses the pyrometric pusher that allow first and the second stage to separate during flight. Falcon 9 is equipped with four hypersonic grid fins positioned at the base of the interstage. They orient the rocket during re-entry by moving center of pressure. The second stage powered by a single Merlin vacuum engine delivers Falcon 9's payload to the desired orbit.

[00:03:18]The second stage engine ignites a few seconds after the stage separation and can be restarted multiple times to place multiple payloads into different orbits.

[00:03:28]Made of a carbon composite material, the fairing protects satellites on their way to orbit. The fairing is jettisoned approximately 3 minutes into flight and SpaceX continues to recover fairing for reuse on its future missions.

[00:03:42]All 24 Starlink satellites are encapsulated in a 13.1 m high and 5.2 m diameter fairing.

[00:03:50]Later, SpaceX confirmed the deployment of all 24 Starlink satellites launched on its mission 17 and 42.

[00:04:08]Stage one landing leg deploy.

[00:04:18]Stage one landing confirmed.