SpaceX Preps for Three Block 5 Launches in Just Two Weeks

This weekend, SpaceX began what is slated to be its busiest week ever by successfully launching its largest payload to date: a communications satellite dubbed TelStar 19V. Perched atop the company's Cape Canaveral launch pad, a shiny new Falcon 9 rocket roared to life at 1:50 am Eastern on Sunday morning, lighting up the predawn sky. It was the 13th launch so far this year for SpaceX--and, notably, the first of three Falcon 9 Block 5 booster launches scheduled for the next 12 days. SpaceX equipped the Block 5 booster--known internally as B1047--with several upgrades designed to make it more capable than its predecessor, the Block 4. They include improved engines, a more durable interstage, titanium grid fins, and a new thermal protection system. Together they help the rocket pack a bigger punch, more safely, more often: On Sunday, the Block 5 not only delivered its hefty payload to orbit, it also landed aboard an autonomous drone ship waiting out in the Atlantic.