The Falcon 9 rocket launched the IXPE X-ray observatory
A Falcon 9 rocket was launched from the Cape Canaveral cosmodrome in the interests of NASA, SpaceX reports .
It is noted that the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft is installed in the head of the carrier — a 325-kilogram new observatory equipped with three telescopes to track X-ray sources in the Universe.
After the launch and separation from the second stage of the Falcon 9, the first made a successful landing on the floating platform Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.
In December, SpaceNews reported that in 2021, the American company SpaceX broke the annual record of launches of its own Falcon 9 heavy rocket. The publication notes that as of December 3, 27 launches of such carriers were made. The previous record, including 26 Falcon 9 launches, was set in 2020.
Last December, ArsTechnica reported that SpaceX in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, broke its own record for the number of rocket launches in 2018.
