2018 was a record-breaking year for Elon Musk’s aerospace company. SpaceX has further cemented itself as the United States’ most prolific rocket firm by pulling off more launches than ever before and debuting the world’s most powerful operational launch system.
SpaceX ended 2018 by successfully launching a total of 21 rockets, one being the Falcon Heavy in February, which blasted one of Musk’s electric sports cars into space. The company also made massive strides toward rocket reusability with Falcon 9’s Block 5 upgrade and by sticking 12 of its 14 attempted first-stage booster landings.
Now, you can watch all 365 days worth of this space flight awesomeness packed into a single video seen above. Barna Zágoni who runs the YouTube channel SpaceBrownie cut together the best parts of all of 21 of SpaceX’s live streams to show off only each mission’s takeoff and landing sequence. The back-to-back footage highlights the milestones the company was able to pull off in a year’s time.
SpaceX 2018: Falcon Heavy’s Incredible Launch and Partial Landing
Falcon Heavy was SpaceX’s most memorable launch of the year. Not only is the launch system able to carry more weight into lower Earth orbit than any other operational rocket in the world, but the entirety of the launch was like something out of a science fiction flick.
The beastly rocket is essentially made up of three Falcon 9 cores, allowing it to lift 141,000 pounds into orbit. For its maiden launch, Musk made his own Tesla Roadster the payload and put a crash test dummy named “Starman” in the driver’s seat.
While the Falcon Heavy’s central rocket core never made it back to Earth, the launch resulted in a synchronized landing that blew the internet’s collective mind.
SpaceX’s most powerful rocket is slated to take to the skies again in early 2019.
SpaceX 2018: Major Improvements in Reusability
If 2018 had a theme it was arguably reusability. The company’s focus on reusability allowed it to launch the same Falcon 9 booster three times with minimal maintenance. Musk has previously stated that recovering Falcon 9’s first stage saves SpaceX roughly $60 million per launch.
These engineering feats were primarily thanks the Falcon 9’s Block 5 upgrade, the company said, which could enable one of the rockets to fly up to 10 times without any major refurbishment.
Falcon 9 taking off with its Block 5 upgrade.
SpaceX 2018: Human Spaceflight Is Next
While 2018 was monumental for SpaceX, 2019 could be even bigger.
NASA has teamed up with the aerospace company to resuscitate its human spaceflight program. Musk has stated that SpaceX should be launching astronauts into space by April 2019.
Space enthusiasts around the world will be eagerly waiting. But until then, a supercut of 21 rocket launches will have to do.
