A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink satellites soared into the blue sky over California on Saturday (Sept. 6) after rising 20 seconds into its flight from a fog layer typical of its launch web site.
The booster lifted off at 2:06 p.m. EDT (1806 GMT or 11:06 a.m. PDT native time) from Area Launch Complicated 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Area Drive Base. The blue sky gave method to the blackness of house about 8 minutes and 4o seconds after leaving the bottom.
The 24 Starlink web broadband satellites (Group 17-2) had been on track to be deployed into low Earth orbit about 53 minutes later.
For the twentieth time, the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage (booster 1075) efficiently returned to a landing on its 4 touchdown legs atop a sea-based platform. The “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship was positioned in the Pacific Ocean.
The flight expanded SpaceX’s megaconstellation designed to provide internet service to areas around the globe where connectivity is otherwise unavailable. Saturday’s 24 satellites added to the almost 9,000 units that comprise the network.
The mission was the 112th Falcon 9 launch of the year and 530th since 2010.
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