SpaceX has become highly adept at launching and landing rockets. Image Credit: NASA / SpaceX
The double launch showcased the private space firm's ability to scale up and manage multiple launches.
The first rocket, which was carrying a Bulgarian satellite, launched from Florida on Friday, while the second, which took off from California on Sunday, was carrying 10 Iridium constellation satellites.
In both cases, the rocket's booster stage returned for a safe landing on terra firma.
The firm's success means that a total of 13 Falcon 9 boosters have now been recovered for potential reuse, although SpaceX won't be able to reuse ever rocket that it launches.
Its ability to launch two rockets back-to-back within such a small time frame has also helped to allay fears about the firm's ambitious launch schedule over the next few years with plans to launch as many as 24 rockets this year and more than double that annually by 2019.
With a backlog of 70 missions worth $10bn however, the increase in pace will surely be welcome.
Amazing to watch what these engineers have done. Someday our astronauts may return to Earth the same way these first stage rockets are. Now that would be an exciting ride.
No more than normal. These two launches occurredfrom different launch sites, Kennedy in Florid and Vandenberg in California, and so would have used different launch teams working independently of each other. Whilst such "double headers" of launches using the same type of vehicle from different launch sites are not common they are also not unique. ULA has done it in the past with the Atlas and 2 Soyuz rockets were launched within 2 hours of each other in 2013. Well firstly SpaceX has been fully commercial since the day it was set up. As for the launch schedule, it is still far slower than ... [More]
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