Falcon 9 rocket successfully launches 21 Starlink satellites in California
In the early hours of Saturday morning, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying 21 Starlink satellites to orbit. The launch, which took place at 1:23 a.m. PDT (4:23 a.m. EDT, 0823 UTC), marked the first of two Starlink delivery missions planned for the day.
Equipped with nine Merlin 1D engines, the Falcon 9 rocket embarked on a south-easterly trajectory after departing from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E). This launch was SpaceX’s 22nd mission from the West Coast this year and its 75th orbital launch of 2023 overall.
Impressively, the first stage booster utilized for this launch was on its 16th flight. It had previously been involved in various missions such as Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, as well as six Starlink delivery flights. Following its main burn, which lasted approximately two and a half minutes, the first stage of the Falcon 9 successfully landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I still Love You’ stationed about 400 miles downrange (644km) in the Pacific Ocean offshore of Baja California.
Approximately an hour after the launch, deployment of the 21 V2 Mini Starlink satellites is scheduled to take place. These satellites, part of the next generation spacecraft, are significantly larger than their predecessors, the V1.5 satellites. Featuring upgraded antennae and larger solar panels, the V2 Minis have the capability to deliver four times the bandwidth of the previous generation satellites. This launch marks the 28th mission for the V2 Minis since their introduction in February of this year.
Notably, a second Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch later in the day from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission, scheduled for liftoff at 10:17 p.m. EDT (0217 UTC), will carry 23 Starlink satellites, making it the largest number of V2 Mini satellites to be deployed in a single mission.
SpaceX continues to make significant strides in its Starlink satellite constellation project, aiming to provide global broadband coverage from space.