智邦网
2021-1-25 智邦网
编译 致远
据美国中文网、Sputniknews网1月25日报道
当地时间24日上午10时，美国太空探索技术公司(SpaceX)在佛州卡纳维拉尔角成功完成“运输者1号”发射任务，“猎鹰9”号火箭携带143颗卫星进入太空，创下单次发射卫星数量的新纪录。
在发射大约八分钟后，火箭第一级推进器返回地球，并降落在大西洋上的无人驾驶着陆船上。同时，第二级火箭继续上升至预定轨道。
SpaceX此次发射把143颗卫星带入太空，超过此前由印度运载火箭在2017年2月创下的单次发射卫星纪录。当时，极地卫星运载火箭将104颗卫星送入太空。
报道指出，此次发射原定于1月23日进行，然而由于天气原因，在原定的发射窗口前几分钟，SpaceX宣布发射取消，将其推迟到24日。
SpaceX此前计划，2019-2024年间，在太空搭建由约1.2万颗卫星组成的“星链”网络，从太空向地球提供高速互联网接入服务。
SpaceX Delivers 143 Satellites to Space in Single Rocket Launch, Breaks World Record
SpaceX on Sunday successfully launched its Falcon-9 rocket with a record number of satellites on board a single rocket, 143 spacecraft, according to a broadcast page on the company’s website.
In this launch, only 10 spacecraft were the Starlink communications satellites, SpaceX’s Internet communications project, aimed to provide wireless internet connection at any geographical point of the globe.
“On board this launch were 133 commercial and government spacecraft (including CubeSats, microsats, and orbital transfer vehicles) and 10 Starlink satellites – the most spacecraft ever deployed on a single mission. The Starlink satellites aboard this mission were the first in the constellation to deploy to a polar orbit”, the company’s launch description reads.
In addition, the 48 SuperDove satellites are owned by Planet, a company that surveys the Earth’s surface. The cargo also included human ashes aboard a Celestis Inc. flight.
As usual, the company provided a streaming video of the whole launch online for the fans.
The first stage booster of the Falcon 9, which landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic, had been in space four times before this flight, including during last summer’s launch of SpaceX’s first crew mission.
The previous record was set in 2017 by India, 104 vehicles in one launch, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Generally, when larger satellites have extra space on their rockets, small satellites are launched as secondary payloads, but this rideshare launch was different. The mission, named Transporter-1, became the first launch under a program designed to provide affordable access to satellite launch for interested companies.
This mission was planned to launch at a scheduled date, meaning that as long as the small satellites were ready, they could fly on time, instead of being required to wait for a large payload to be ready.
According to media reports, the cost of launching a satellite weighing 200 kilograms is approximately $1 million. For every additional kilogram, space carriers charge $5,000.
SpaceX plans to carry out similar launches every four months.
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