CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — After SpaceX sent up more than 20 Starlink satellites on Sunday night, its young rocket booster was lost after a fire.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off the Starlink 12-20 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated the company. 

The launch window opened at 9:24 p.m. ET.

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

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

Going into the black

This is the fifth mission for the Falcon 9's first-stage booster B1086. Here is a list of the four missions it has sent into space:

1. GOES-U
2. Starlink 12-5
3. Starlink 12-11 mission
4. Maxar’s WorldView

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

However, a fire damaged one of the booster’s legs that caused it to tip over, stated SpaceX in a post on X Monday morning.

“Following the successful landing, an off-nominal fire in the aft end of the rocket damaged one of the booster's landing legs which resulted in it tipping over. While disappointing to lose a rocket after a successful mission, the team will use the data to make Falcon even more reliable on ascent and landing,” stated SpaceX. 

About the mission

The 21 satellites from the Starlink company, owned by SpaceX, will be heading to low-Earth orbit.

Once released from the Falcon 9 and they are in their orbit, they will provide internet service to many parts of Earth.

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

Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

• 7,082 are in orbit
• 6,367 are in operational orbit