On Saturday, SpaceX launched two Intelsat spacecraft. The Falcon 9 first-stage rocket flew for the 14th flight from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Galaxy 31 and Galaxy 32 spacecraft will deliver high-performance video distribution services to Intelsat subscribers in North America. Previously, the booster powered Dragon's maiden crew demonstration flight, the RADARSAT Constellation Mission, SXM-7, plus ten Starlink missions.
This rocket will not fly again; SpaceX did not attempt to lower it for a safe touchdown and future reuse. The Saturday's cargo required a little bit more performance from Falcon 9, so the team had to employ the propellants that would typically be used for the entrance burn and landing combustion to transport the payload instead to orbit, said SpaceX space operations director Siva Bharadvaj during a live webcast, as mentioned in a report from Space.com.
Both Galaxy 31 and 32 are fairly hefty, and Falcon 9 transported them to a far geosynchronous transfer orbit. The top stage of the rocket successfully implemented the two satellites 33 to 38 minutes after blastoff respectively.
New Technology for the New Generation
According to the company's website, the pair will assist Intelsat in refreshing its communications fleet. Based on Intelsat executives, the high-speed satellites offer a "new technology generation" for clients, primarily television broadcasters.
Galaxy 31 and 32 will replace existing North American-focused spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, which means they will always be over one part of the Earth. Saturday's launch was SpaceX's second Intelsat operation in less than a month, after the Oct. 8 launch of the Galaxy 33 with Galaxy 34 satellites with a Falcon 9.
Intelsat officials stated that the two Galaxy spacecraft would bring new capacities in C-band, another radio frequency spectrum that Galaxy 31 through 32 will also employ. Saturday's launch was SpaceX's 52nd total in 2022, adding to the company's increasing single-year record (31, set in 2021). This was also the 48th flight this year utilizing a formerly flown Falcon 9 rocket.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two Intelsat spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Nov. 12, 2022. It was the record-tying 14th liftoff for this Falcon 9's first stage. SpaceX Falcon 9 launched two big telecom satellites last Saturday.
ALSO READ: SpaceX To Deploy Falcon 9 Rocket On Tuesday After Firing It Off 52 Times in 52 Weeks
Starlink Satellite-Internet System
The overwhelming majority of SpaceX flights in 2022 have helped to expand the company's massive Starlink satellite-internet system. However, SpaceX has also launched other businesses' satellites into orbit, launching cargo and crew flights toward the International Space Station using Falcon 9s in 2022.
In addition, SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy on November 1. That mission, which carried cargo for the U.S. Space Force, was the rocket's first flight since June 2019, following a report from Financial Tribune.
Prior flights of Galaxy 33 and Galaxy 34 were last Oct. 11 as Science Times reported, SpaceX initiated a pair of four-ton Intelsat communications satellites from Cape Canaveral on sunset Saturday evening, two days later than planned due to back-to-back scrubs.
Intelsat aims to earn almost $5 billion from the Federal Communications Commission if it can entirely release the lowest 300 MHz C-band by December 5, 2023, the regulator's deadline. Following the recent loss of a judicial challenge for an equitable distribution, competitor satellite operator SES is scheduled to get almost $4 billion if it cleans its C-band spectrum on time.
RELATED ARTICLE: SpaceX's Falcon 9 Successfully Deploys Galaxy 33, 34; The First Two Satellites of Intelsat
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