CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE — Even though the weather was a bit uncertain, SpaceX was able to launch more than 20 Starlink satellites late Saturday night.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 20 Starlink satellites were launched

  • The liftoff happend at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11 p.m. ET.

The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 45% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concerns being the thick cloud layers and cumulus cloud rules.

If the launch did not happen, the next attempt would have been Sunday at 11 p.m. ET.

Going into the black

Not counting this one, the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster for the Starlink 6-31 mission, affectionally named B1078, has five successful launches under its belt.

After the stage separation, the first-stage booster landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas that will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

About the mission

Going into low-Earth orbit, the 23 Starlink satellites will eventually join the thousands up there to provide internet service. These Starlink V2 Mini satellites each weighs 1,760 pounds (800 kilograms).

SpaceX owns the Starlink company.

Before the launch, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Dr. Jonathan McDowell has documented the following Starlink satellite information.

  • 5,143 are in orbit
  • 5,103 in working order
  • 4,543 are in operational orbit

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