CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — Good weather made the Saturday evening launch very nice for space watchers as SpaceX sent up more than 20 Starlink satellites. 

What You Need To Know

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

The Falcon 9 rocket sent up the Starlink 10-8 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX.

The four-hour launch window opened at 5:47 p.m. ET.

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

Find out more about the weather criteria for a Falcon 9 launch.

If the launch was scrubbed, the next attempt would have been Sunday at 5:24 p.m. ET.

Going up

This is the 19th mission for the Falcon 9's first-stage booster B1069, which the rocket considers “06” a very uncool middle name.

The 18 missions it has flown are:

After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions that will be in the Atlantic Ocean.

About the mission

The 22 satellites from the Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, will be heading to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands already there.

These satellites provide internet service to many parts of our globe.

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

Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

  • 6,494 are in orbit
  • 6,153 are in operational orbit

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