CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A brand new SpaceX rocket launched a pristine batch of Starlink web satellites into orbit late Wednesday (Feb. 26) in a stunning nighttime liftoff.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites soared into the night time time sky from a SpaceX’s Launch Complicated-40, on the Cape Canaveral House Pressure Station, in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 10:34 p.m. EST (0334 GMT).
The Starlink mission, referred to as Starlink 12-13, marked the fourth batch of Starlink web satellites launched by SpaceX in simply over per week, preceded by flights on Feb. 18, Feb. 21 and Feb. 22. SpaceX initially focused Tuesday night time for the launch, however pushed it again 24 hours earlier than that try.
The launch was a rarity for SpaceX in a single side: its Falcon 9 first stage. The booster was a brand-new Falcon 9 stage — designated B1092 — making its first flight, a novelty for SpaceX, which has a secure of veteran flown boosters.
The booster returned to Earth about eight minutes after launch just like the legions of its predecessors, touching down on the drone ship Simply Learn the Directions stationed offshore within the Atlantic Ocean. The Falcon 9 higher stage, in the meantime, continued its ascent to orbit, the place it deployed its 21 Starlink satellites about 65 minutes after liftoff.
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The brand new Starlink satellites add to SpaceX’s rising variety of space-based web satellites in a megaconstellation designed to offer high-speed web entry all over the world.
The late-night launch marked SpaceX’s twenty fourth Falcon 9 mission of 2025, 18 of which have been devoted to Starlink launches. SpaceX at the moment has greater than 7,000 operational Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit, according to a database by astronomer Jonathan McDowell, who usually tracks Starlink constellation satellites.
