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SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink broadband satellites from California on Tuesday night (June 18), ending a 10-day spaceflight drought for the company.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities, lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Tuesday at 11:40 p.m. EDT (8:40 p.m. California local time; 0040 UTC). GMT on June 19). .
About 8.5 minutes later, the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage touched down aboard SpaceX’s Of Course I Still Love You drone vehicle, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
This was the fifth launch and landing of this particular booster, according to A SpaceX mission description.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage continued to ferry the 20 satellites toward low Earth orbit, where they are scheduled to be deployed about an hour after liftoff. The new batch will join more than 6000 operational satellites In the huge Starlink constellation.
Tuesday night’s mission was SpaceX’s 61st orbital liftoff of the year but its first since June 8. That won’t be a lull for any operator other than SpaceX, which is averaging one launch every 2.8 days so far in 2024.
The Starlink launch was supposed to be the second half of a double spaceflight for SpaceX on Tuesday. But the first leg, the launch of the Astra 1P communications satellite for Luxembourg-based SES, was canceled due to high winds near the launch site, Space Force Cape Canaveral Station in Florida.
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