Update 2:13 a.m. EDT: SpaceX has confirmed the successful deployment of Starlink satellites.
SpaceX continued its post-accident comeback with the first of a planned back-to-back launches in the early hours of Sunday morning. The company prepared to launch two of its Falcon 9 rockets from its pads in Florida and California.
First up was Starlink Mission 10-4, which added a batch of 23 Starlink Version 2 Mini satellites to its growing megaconstellation. Liftoff occurred at 1:09 a.m. EDT (0509 UTC). This was also the 300th launch of a flight test rocket for SpaceX.
The mission came shortly after SpaceX successfully returned to operation early Saturday morning. It was the first Falcon 9 launch in just over two weeks, following a second-stage mishap that occurred during a Starlink mission, which launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 11.
The Falcon 9 rocket supporting this mission, tail number B1077 in SpaceX’s fleet, lifted off and landed for the 14th time. It previously launched NASA’s Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station, the GPS 3 Space Vehicle 06 satellite, and two cargo missions to the orbiting outpost among its previous flights.
Just over eight minutes after liftoff, B1077 landed on SpaceX's unmanned spacecraft, 'A Shortfall of Gravitas.' It was the 77th landing at ASOG and the 331st rocket landing to date.
The Starlink 10-4 mission was the 51st dedicated Starlink launch of 2024 and the 114th dedicated launch of the V2 Mini range of Starlink satellites.
According to orbital tracking expert and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, there are more than 6,100 active Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. On Wednesday, SpaceX announced that, thanks to a recent agreement with WestJet airline, Starlink internet service is now available on more than 1,000 aircraft.
