SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center – Spaceflight Now

Update 1:20 a.m. EDT: SpaceX has successfully landed the booster, B1078, on the drone ship.

SpaceX has launched its latest batch of Starlink satellites, ramping up the company's mega-constellation in low Earth orbit. The mission came as SpaceX works to launch a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station over the weekend.

Liftoff for the Starlink 10-6 mission from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center occurred at 1:01 a.m. EDT (0501 UTC).

As the launch window approaches, the 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Space Force Base forecast 95 percent favorable conditions for liftoff. The only potential concern is a violation of the cumulus cloud rule.

The first-stage Falcon 9 rocket supporting this mission, whose tail number is B1078 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for the 12th time. It previously launched the Crew-6 astronaut mission to the ISS, the USSF-124 payload, and eight batches of Starlink satellites.

Just over eight minutes after liftoff, B1078 will land on SpaceX’s uncrewed spacecraft, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ It was the 78th landing at ASOG and the 333rd rocket landing to date.

The Starlink 10-6 mission adds another 23 Starlink satellites to the network. Prior to launch, more than 6,800 Starlink satellites in total had been sent into low Earth orbit. According to Jonathan McDowell, an orbital tracking expert and astrophysicist, there are currently more than 6,200 Starlink satellites in operation.

Return to client missions

The launch of Starlink is the prelude to another major mission for SpaceX. The Cygnus spacecraft, built by Northrop Grumman, is expected to dock with the International Space Station. This will be the second of three planned times that SpaceX will launch a Cygnus spacecraft as Northrop Grumman and Firefly Aerospace continue work on the Antares 330 rocket, which is scheduled to launch in 2025.

This mission, dubbed NG-21, is notable because it will be the first time since the July 11 mid-flight accident that SpaceX will launch a payload other than its own Starlink satellites. SpaceX successfully launched three Falcon 9 missions over the previous weekend in a demonstration of its ability to return to reliable launches.

NASA's launch comes as the agency prepares to send three of its astronauts, as well as a Russian cosmonaut, to the International Space Station for a six-month crew rotation mission, called Crew-9. That mission is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than August 18.

Other SpaceX launch customers are also eagerly awaiting their turn to launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The commercial astronaut mission, Polaris Dawn, is looking forward to its free-flying mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft named Resilience.

Satellite providers like Maxar Technologies are also waiting their turn. On Thursday afternoon, the company reported that its next two WorldView Legion satellites recently arrived in Florida to prepare for the Maxar 2 mission to a medium inclination orbit.