KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — SpaceX kicked off the weekend with a Starlink satellite launch on Friday afternoon.
What You Need To Know
- SpaceX sent 53 satellites to low-Earth orbit
- Scroll down to watch the launch
🚀 @SpaceX kicked off the weekend with a #Starlink satellite launch on Friday afternoon, reports @AnthonyLeone
— Spectrum News 13 (@MyNews13) June 17, 2022
Find out what these 53 Starlink satellites will be doing right here: https://t.co/v4qsEunC8l pic.twitter.com/XJU66wP9ay
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sent 53 satellites to low-Earth orbit at 12:09 p.m. EDT. The liftoff took place from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
Originally, the launch was set to go at 12:08 p.m. EDT, but SpaceX pushed it back by one minute.
The 45th Weather Squadron gave the Friday launch a 90% chance of good weather.
The first-stage booster, which has been used for other missions like the Transporter-2 and the GPS III-3, landed on the droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” that is in the Atlantic Ocean after completing its mission. SpaceX tweeted out that this was the "... 100th successful mission" for this style of rocket.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship – marking SpaceX’s first 13th flight of a first stage booster and 100th successful mission with a flight proven orbital class rocket! pic.twitter.com/6XjfcOPuUh
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 17, 2022
The Starlink satellites will allow internet access coverage to most of Earth and provide an advanced broadband capability for activities like video calls and streaming.
The Starlink company is operated by SpaceX.