 |
|
1st recovered SpaceX
payload fairing from Falcon 9 launch of 1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails back into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO NAVIGATOR vessel after crews hoisted it on board after ocean splashdown. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Ken
Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com &
RocketSTEM – 26 May 2019
PORT CANAVERAL, FL – Both payload fairings that protected the maiden
Starlink broadband communications satellites during their ascent to orbit and
were successfully recovered from the ocean following the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch
on Thursday evening May 23 sailed into Port Canaveral, Florida, this morning Sunday May 26.
The two fairing were retrieved from the sea
waters of the Atlantic Ocean by the SpaceX naval fleet after parachutes
assisted splashdown.
Crews hauled the fairings out of the water
soon after splashdown and they appeared to be intact on the decks on the GO
NAVIGATOR and GO SEARCHER recovery ships at that time, based of photos released
by SpaceX.
I witnessed the payload fairing arriving on GO
NAVIGATOR and GO SEARCHER one after another at about 10:30 a.m. EDT May 26
after they sailed into the mouth of Port Canaveral.
Enjoy our Space UpClose gallery of photos
 |
|
2nd recovered SpaceX payload fairing from Falcon 9 launch of
1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails back into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO SEARCHER vessel after crews hoisted it on board after ocean splashdown. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
reliable and affordable high-speed broadband services,” says SpaceX.
the two fairings on board docked side-by-side at the normal berthing port.
Interestingly they docked near two Dragon
test articles! Making for quite a sight.
 |
|
1st recovered SpaceX payload fairing from Falcon
9 launch of 1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails past two Dragon test articles after sailing into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO NAVIGATOR vessel after crews hoisted it on board after ocean splashdown. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
On the voyage in they passed by Mr Steven,
SpaceX’s designated fairing catching vessel, which was not used for this launch
because it was just repaired this week and outfitted with a nifty new blue
colored net.
 |
|
1st recovered SpaceX payload fairing from Falcon
9 launch of 1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails past Mr Steven after sailing into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO NAVIGATOR vessel after crews hoisted it on board after ocean splashdown. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
 |
|
Both recovered SpaceX payload fairing from Falcon 9 launch of
1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails back into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO NAVIGATOR and GO SEARCHER recovery vessels and dock side-by-side between Mr Steven and two Dragon test articles. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Mr Steven was damaged a few months back. The
arms and net were reinstalled last week as the SpaceX launch was taking place.
 |
|
1st recovered SpaceX payload fairing from Falcon
9 launch of 1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails past Mr Steven after sailing into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO NAVIGATOR vessel after crews hoisted it on board after ocean splashdown. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
 |
|
Both recovered SpaceX payload fairing from Falcon 9 launch of
1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails back into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO NAVIGATOR and GO SEARCHER recovery vessels and dock side-by-side beside two Dragon test articles. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
The Starlink satellite deployments took place
as planned approximately an hour after blastoff
 |
|
Both recovered SpaceX payload fairing from Falcon 9 launch of
1st Starlink satellites on May 23, 2019 sails back into Port Canaveral, FL on May 26 on the deck of the GO NAVIGATOR and GO SEARCHER recovery vessels and dock side-by-side between Mr Steven and two Dragon test articles. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
The Starlink 1 launch was scrubbed twice last
week – first for excessive and powerful upper levels winds which could destroy
the rocket on ascent through the atmosphere on the originally targeted date of
May 15. And second to fix a pesky software issue that was only discovered several
hours prior to the second attempt on May 16
p.m. EDT Thursday, May 23 (0230 GMT Friday) from
Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.
 |
|
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off with
1st batch of 60 SpaceX manufactured Starlink broadband satellites at 10:30 p.m. ET on May 23, 2019 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL on Starlink-1 mission. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Watch my SpaceX launch commentary and rocket photos at this Fox 35
Orlando report from May 16 launch attempt:
http://www.fox35orlando.com/home/spacex-trying-again-for-launch-of-falcon-9-rocket
onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and
Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer
– email: ken at kenkremer.com
KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about
space topics.
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
