CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — While many were tucked in their beds, SpaceX sent up more than 20 Starlink satellites during the early hours of Friday morning.

What You Need To Know

  • The first-stage booster has 13 missions under its belt

The company’s Falcon 9 rocket left Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for the Starlink 6-47 mission, stated SpaceX.

The launch window opened at 5:12 a.m. ET.

The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 90% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concerns being liftoff winds and the thick cloud layers rule.

“By launch time Friday morning, winds and remnant high clouds will taper off though the window, leaving only a slight risk of a liftoff wind or Thick Cloud Layers Rule violation,” the squadron stated.

If the launch was scrubbed, the next attempt would have been Saturday, April 6, at 1:51 a.m. ET.

Leaving Earth

This is not first-stage booster B1069’s first rodeo. It accomplished 13 missions.

After the stage separation, the booster landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.

About the mission

Going to low-Earth orbit, 23 Starlink satellites will join the thousands of others already there.

These satellites provide internet services to many parts of the planet.

SpaceX owns the Starlink company.

Before this launch, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Dr. Jonathan McDowell documented the following Starlink satellites stats.

  • 5,721 are in orbit
  • 5,654 in working order
  • 5,176 are in operational orbit

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