WASHINGTON– After setting a record for launch activity in 2021, SpaceX kicked off 2022 with the launch of a batch of Starlink satellites on Jan. 6.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:49 p.m. Eastern on the Starlink 4-5 mission. Its payload of 49 Starlink satellites separated from the upper stage 15 and a half minutes after liftoff, although confirmation of the separation did not occur until approximately an hour later due to a lack of ground station coverage
Nearly nine minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s first stage landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean near The Bahamas. The booster flew for the fourth time, having previously launched two GPS 3 satellites on the Inspiration4 commercial Crew Dragon mission.
Instead of the northeastern trajectory employed for prior Starlink launches from Florida, the launch took an unexpected southeastern direction. According to a Space Force officer, it was the first of three planned for January that will travel on southern, or polar, paths
“The 2022 launch rate is going to be exceptionally busy,” said Maj. Jonathan Szul, director of operations for the First Range Operations Squadron at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in a Jan. 4 statement. “Despite successfully launching three polar missions in the last year and a half, Cape Canaveral has never had five southern trajectory launches in a single month.”
Beyond Starlink 4-5, he did not mention any further polar launches scheduled for January. Transporter-3, the specialized rideshare Falcon 9 launch scheduled for January 13, is one of them. Another possibility is the launch of a Cosmo-Skymed Second Generation radar imaging satellite for the Italian space agency by a Falcon 9 rocket ASI, expected in late January. The other polar launches may be Starlink missions
Because of varied airspace and maritime constraints that pilots and boaters may not be acclimated to, Space Launch Delta 45, the Space Force unit that operates the Eastern Range, was concerned about the increased usage of launches on southern trajectories. “Because of the distinct southerly trajectory, there will be a greater potential impact to air and marine travel near Florida’s southeast coast,” Szul added.
This marks SpaceX’s first launch of 2022, as well as the first orbital flight globally in the new year. In 2021, SpaceX set a company record with 31 orbital launches, all on Falcon 9 rockets.
SpaceX has not announced a target date for 2022, but in a panel discussion at Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week on December 13, Tom Ochinero, vice president of commercial sales at SpaceX, said the company’s plans for 2022 included at least three crewed missions and five Falcon Heavy launches, the last of which occurred in 2019. “It’ll be more thrilling next year,” he remarked of 2022.
