CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — Just hours before Boeing’s maiden Starliner flight, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying more than 20 Starlink satellites lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

What You Need To Know

  • SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying more than Starlink satellites at 2:14 p.m. ET

  • It was launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

A Falcon 9 rocket sent up Starlink 6-57 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX.

Starlink 6-57 mission launched at 2:14 p.m. ET. The launch window originally had been set to open at 12:36 p.m. ET.

SpaceX owns the Starlink company.

Going up

This marks the 15th mission for the Falcon 9's first-stage booster B1069. Before this launch, its 14 missions include:

After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions, which is in the Atlantic Ocean.

About the mission

The 23 Starlink satellites headed to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands of their mechanical brothers and sisters that are already there.

Dr. Jonathan McDowell, of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has been recording Starlink satellites.

Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

  • 5,913 are in orbit
  • 5,234 are in operational orbit

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