CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — Under good weather conditions, SpaceX launched another Starlink mission on Tuesday evening.
What You Need To Know
- More than 20 Starlink satellites were sent into low-Earth orbit
- The launch window opened at 6:17 p.m. ET.
Engines full power and liftoff! pic.twitter.com/FeW78mZio2
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 23, 2024
The company's Falcon 9 rocket sent up the Starlink 6-53 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX.
The launch window opened at 6:17 p.m. ET.
The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 95% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concern being the cumulus cloud rule.
If the launch is scrubbed, the next attempt would have been on Wednesday at 5:50 p.m. ET.
Going up
This was the ninth mission for the Falcon 9's first-stage booster B1078. It has had eight successful missions before this launch:
- Crew-6
- SES O3b mPOWER
- USSF-124 mission
- Starlink 6-4
- Starlink 6-8
- Starlink 6-16
- Starlink 6-31
- Starlink 6-46
After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions that was in the Atlantic Ocean.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, completing Falcon’s 300th landing! pic.twitter.com/1YHqiHWjkN
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 23, 2024
About the mission
The 23 satellites from the Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, will be heading to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands already there.
Dr. Jonathan McDowell, of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has been documenting Starlink satellites.
Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:
- 5,851 are in orbit
- 5,214 are in operational orbit
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