12 MAY

SpaceX may finally be reaching a nirvana of high flight rates

Due to accidents, production issues, and other factors, SpaceX has in recent years failed to achieve a “high volume” launch rate of a dozen or more Falcon 9 rockets per year. Famously, the company has a backlog of 70 or more missions, which SpaceX estimates to be worth $ 10 billion.

Even with a static-fire accident that destroyed a rocket and its payload on Sept. 1, last year was the company’s most successful year in terms of overall launches with its workhorse Falcon 9 booster. SpaceX had made eight flights of the Falcon 9 rocket, a cadence of one launch per month, prior to the accident.

Since SpaceX returned to flight on Jan. 17 of this year, five Falcon 9 rockets have launched, and the sixth mission is scheduled for Monday. The launch window for the Inmarsat-5 F4 mission, which will take off from Launch Complex-39A at Kennedy Space Center, opens at 7:20pm ET Monday (00:20 UK Tuesday).

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Ars Technica

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