![]() The satellites were deployed from the upper stage payload adapter 14 minutes 51 seconds into flight. The Merlin vacuum engine on the second stage then performed a single 6 minute burn to place the stack of Starlink satellites into a 196 by 160 mile (315 by 258 km) orbit. Falcon 9 booster 1071 after a successful landing on the drone ship. It was SpaceX’s 164th booster recovery at sea, its 208th overall and its 134th successful recovery in a row. It has also made four Starlink delivery flights. The first stage booster previously launched the NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT and Transporter-8 missions. The booster, which was making its 10th flight, touched down about nine and a half minutes after launch on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’, which was stationed about 410 miles (660km) downrange in the Pacific Ocean. This new Starlink version weighs nearly three times more than the previous V1.5 spacecraft. This maneuver known as a ‘dogleg’ burns additional propellant and reduces the Falcon 9’s lift capacity. ![]() The rocket must skirt islands off the California coast, requiring a turn to the east to get on the correct trajectory for its planned 43-degree inclination orbit. This is significantly less than the 21-22 satellites that can be launched into the same orbit from Cape Canaveral. The Falcon 9 climbed off pad SLC-4E at the California launch site, rising through a thick layer of fog, carrying 15 satellites of the Starlink V2 mini design. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base occurred at 9:09 p.m. ![]() Image: SpaceX.Ī SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is lifted off Wednesday night/Thursday morning carrying the first batch of second-generation Starlink satellites to be lofted from the West Coast. The other mission was Firefly Aerospace’s Victus Nox launch in September.A Falcon 9 rocket rises through a thick layer of fog at Vandenberg Space Force Base as it launches 15 second-generation Starlink satellites. Following the Starlink 7-4 mission, it will account for 21 out of the 22 industry launches from VSFB so far in 2023. SpaceX is also greatly ramping up activity at Vandenberg. Following the Starlink 6-22 mission, the company will have used it to launch a total of 148 times, a majority of the 263 Falcon 9 launches that will have taken place by that point. SLC-40 continues to be a workhorse launch pad for SpaceX. A Falcon 9 booster was raised upright just before 6 p.m. The Starlink 6-22 is now looking to launch no earlier than Monday, Oct. The two first-stage boosters, B1067 at SLC-40 and B1063 at SLC-4E, were each aiming to launch for a 14th time. Because of its trajectory, its payload consists of a slightly smaller load of 21 Starlink V2 Mini satellites.īoth mission featured Falcon 9 rockets. EDT, 0743 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The scrub was followed less than 4.5 hours later by the Starlink 7-4 mission, which successfully launched at 12:43 a.m. The launch had already been delayed twice as pre-launch preparations had fallen behind schedule. EDT (0338 UTC) to send up 22 Starlink V2 Mini satellites up to low Earth orbit. SpaceX had been targeting a liftoff at 11:38 p.m. Minutes later, SpaceX said they were standing down from the Starlink 6-22 launch attempt from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida due to strong upper-level winds. However, at about T-23 seconds, a hold was called by the launch director. SpaceX was hoping to kick off the second week of October with a pair of back-to-back Falcon 9 launches, lifting off from both of its Space Force-based launch pads. Upper level winds forced SpaceX to scrub the Starlink 6-22 mission from Cape Canaveral. Its first stage booster, making its 14th flight, landed successfully on a drone ship in the Pacific. ![]() EDT: A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 12:43 a.m.
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