SpaceX Launches 22 More Starlink Satellites Written 30 October 2023
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 22 Starlink internet satellites to orbit from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Oct. 29, 2023 at 5 a.m. EDT. | Credit: VideoFromSpace; YouTube; framegrab
Spaceflight Now reported that the first of two Falcon 9 missions SpaceX “is planning for Sunday carried into orbit the largest batch of second-generation Starlink satellites to be launched from the West Coast.” The Falcon 9 “lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2 a.m. PDT (5 a.m. EDT / 0900 UTC) with 22 satellites aboard.” The California launch “will be followed on Sunday by another Starlink delivery mission carrying 23 satellites, which will launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 UTC).” The Starlink 7-6 mission “was the first time a Falcon 9 has carried 22 of the so-called V2 Mini satellites from the West Coast.” Previously, missions from there “had been limited to 15 or 21 Starlinks, depending on the orbit.” On the East Coast, a Falcon 9 “launched 23 V2 Minis a week ago on Oct. 21, one more than the previous maximum load for a mission from the Cape.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
SpaceX launches 22 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg, Oct. 29, 2023 at 5 a.m. EDT
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube)