Shiny faring tip!
Oh yes! Do we know the reason? (I assume it’s not just this Falcon 9 getting paranoid in its old age!)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Falcon 9 will blaze a familiar trail into space, following the same profile as dozens of past Starlink missions.
The rocket’s first-stage booster will shut off its nine kerosene-fueled Merlin engines about two-and-a-half minutes into the flight, reaching a top speed of more than 5,000 mph (8,000 km per hour).
The 15-story-tall Falcon 9 booster, meanwhile, will follow an arcing trajectory before braking for a vertical landing on a drone ship floating in the Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas.
At this pace, SpaceX is redefining what is routine in the space industry, but the rapid-fire launch rate also means the company is continually breaking records, mostly its own.
The booster will now be the first in SpaceX’s inventory to go for a 20th flight, breaking a tie with three other rockets as the company’s fleet leader.
SpaceX has also cut the turnaround time between Falcon 9 rockets at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The original article contains 686 words, the summary contains 155 words. Saved 77%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
