A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two dozen Starlink V2 Mini broadband web satellites to its large low Earth orbit constellation on Tuesday, a day after liftoff was scrubbed by a uncommon abort throughout engine ignition.
Liftoff from Vandenberg Area Power Base in California got here at 7:49 a.m. PDT (10:49 a.m. EDT / 1449 UTC). The primary launch try for the Starlink 17-39 mission ended because the countdown clock hit zero when a difficulty popped up throughout the ignition sequence. All 9 Merlin 1D engines appeared to ignite however then shutdown in a flash of fireplace and smoke.
However on Tuesday, all appeared to go easily, with the rocket lifting off from Area Launch Advanced 4 East underneath principally clear skies, taking a south-southwesterly trajectory to achieve a 97-degree inclination orbit. Deployment of the 24 Starlink satellites got here simply over an hour into flight.
The mission used Falcon 9 first stage booster B1082, making its twenty third flight after launching missions, together with NROL-145, USSF-62, and OneWeb Launch 20.
Greater than eight minutes after liftoff, B1082 landed on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Nonetheless Love You’, which is positioned within the Pacific Ocean, the 212th touchdown on this vessel and the 640th booster touchdown so far.
The Starlink 17-39 mission was the corporate’s 85 Falcon 9 rocket launch of the yr. Of these, 67 have been in assist of the Starlink constellation, which consists of greater than 10,800 spacecraft.
