SpaceX's drone ship is now heading to the ocean to gear up for the first-ever Falcon 9 Starlink mission of Elon Musk's space exploration firm for the year 2022.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon is seen sitting on launch Pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center as it is prepared for the first completely private mission to fly into orbit in Cape Canaveral, Florida on September 15, 2021. - A Falcon 9 rocket, with a Dragon capsule at its top, will blast off from the legendary launch complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Center in Florida, from where the Apollo 11 mission took off for the Moon.
The Musk-led space firm is planning to start its 2022 with the launch of a new set of Starlink internet satellites via the Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday, Jan. 6, as per the report by Teslarati.
It is to note that the upcoming space flight will mark the 34th SpaceX launch specifically dedicated to the Starlink satellites. Meanwhile, it will be the first liftoff and landing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for the year.
SpaceX Drone Ship and Falcon 9 Starlink Mission 2022
That said, the drone ship of SpaceX that goes by the name "A Shortfall Gravitas" has already departed Port Canaveral ahead of the upcoming Starlink satellite space mission in a few more days.
To be more precise, the drone ship started its journey to the sea on the first day of 2022.
Teslarati estimated in the same news story that the SpaceX drone ship is expected to reach the recovery site of the Falcon 9 approximately a day before the first 2022 launch of the rocket.
Falcon 9 Starlink Mission 2022
According to the report by SpaceFlightNow, the first flight of the Falcon 9 rocket for this year is exclusively for the expanded deployment of Starlink internet satellites into the orbit of the Earth.
The Starlink mission for 2022 is home to the deployment of nearly 4,400 satellites, which seeks to further expand the high-speed and low latency internet service of the space firm across the globe.
The Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off for its internet satellite mission from the Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 6.
On the other hand, the landing of the first stage booster of the SpaceX rocket is on the drone ship of the space firm, which is now heading its way on the Atlantic Ocean.
SpaceX Falcon 9 2022 Mission
On top of that, SpaceFlightNow further noted in the same report that SpaceX is also gearing up for another liftoff mission, which is scheduled to launch on Jan. 13.
The SpaceX crews are also getting ready for the Falcon 9 launch on another nearby facility, the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The upcoming launch, the third ride-share launch of SpaceX for smallsats, will be flying dozens of satellites coming from its clients from the United States and elsewhere in the world.
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Written by Teejay Boris
