CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — SpaceX successfuly launched a Starlink mission on Friday night.
What You Need To Know
- SpaceX launched the Starlink 6-64 mission
- The liftoff took place at Space Launch Complex 40
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sent up Starlink 6-64 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated the California-based company.
The launch window opened at 10:11 p.m. ET, with backup opportunities available until 10:37 p.m. ET, when the launch took place.
The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 90% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concerns being the liftoff winds and cumulus cloud rule.
Going up
The Falcon 9's first-stage booster B1076 has a baker’s dozen of launches, if you do not count this one:
- CRS-26
- OneWeb Flight 16
- Intelsat IS-40e
- Starlink Group 6-1 mission
- Starlink Group 6-3 mission
- Starlink Group 6-6 mission
- Starlink Group 6-14 mission
- Starlink Group 6-21 mission
- SES O3B-mPOWER
- Ovzon-3
- Starlink Group 6-40 mission
- Eutelsat 36D
- Starlink 6-54
After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket is set to land on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas that will be in the Atlantic Ocean.
About the mission
The 23 satellites from the Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, will be heading to low-Earth orbit.
Dr. Jonathan McDowell, of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has been recording Starlink satellites.
Before this launch, McDowell logged the following:
- 6,078 are in orbit
- 5,234 are in operational orbit