Another set of 48 Starlink internet satellites was launched into orbit Wednesday from Cape Canaveral atop a Falcon 9 rocket, dubbed a “American broomstick” by SpaceX’s launch director in a dig at Russian space commander Dmitry Rogozin.
The Falcon 9 activated its Merlin 1D engines and began a vertical rise away from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:45:10 a.m. EST (1345:10 GMT) Wednesday with a flash of steam and rocket exhaust.
The thundering blastoff kicked off SpaceX’s second Starlink mission in six days and the firm’s tenth flight since January 1, keeping the business on track to meet its goal of launching one mission per week this year.
Julia Black, SpaceX’s launch director, gave her final approval for the mission in the final minute of the countdown.
Black stated, “It’s time to let the American broomstick fly and hear the sound of freedom.” “The launch director (LD) is ready to go.”
The remark was in response to a statement made by Rogozin, the president of Russia’s space agency, who stated last week that Russia would no longer sell rocket engines to the US.
On Russian state television, Rogozin stated, “Let them fly on something else, their broomsticks, I don’t know what.”
He blamed sanctions imposed by the United States in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On their first stage, several American rockets, such as United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 and Northrop Grumman’s Antares, utilise Russian main engines.
ULA claims it has all of the engines it needs to complete the last Atlas 5 flights before the rocket is retired. The Antares rocket from Northrop Grumman has a bleak future.
Other rockets, such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9, use American-made engines.