CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — It was another early morning launch for SpaceX as it sent up more than 20 Starlink satellites. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Falcon 9 rocket sent up Starlink 10-4 mission

  • The mission took off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

The Falcon 9 rocket sent up the Starlink 10-4 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, confirmed SpaceX. 

The nearly four-hour launch window was supposed to open at 12:17 a.m. ET, but the takeoff was pushed back to 1:09 a.m. ET.

This was the second early morning launch for SpaceX in a day. The first one, also taking off from Florida, was the first Falcon 9 launch since the FAA gave SpaceX clearance to use the rocket after an anomaly earlier in the month. 

Going up

This was mission 14 for the Falcon 9's first-stage booster B1077. Before this launch, it had some impressive missions.

  1. Crew-5
  2. GPS III Space Vehicle 06
  3. Inmarsat I-6 F2
  4. CRS-28
  5. Intelsat G-37
  6. NG-20
  7. Starlink mission 5-10
  8. Starlink mission 6-13
  9. Starlink mission 6-25
  10. Starlink mission 6-33
  11. Starlink mission 6-43
  12. Starlink mission 6-51
  13. Starlink mission 6-63

After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket landed on droneship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, that was in the Atlantic Ocean.

About the mission

The 23 large dining-room-sized satellites from the Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, found a new home at low-Earth orbit.

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Dr. Jonathan McDowell records Starlink satellites.

Before this launch, McDowell documented the following:

  • 6,215 are in orbit
  • 5,848 are in operational orbit

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