Tag: Starlink Satellites

SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Satellites

Space News reported that at 6:56 p.m. EDT Saturday, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, carrying 52 Starlink satellites and two rideshare payloads – a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellite from Capella Space and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems’ Tyvak-0130 satellite. The Starlink satellites “separated from the rocket’s upper stage 1 hour and 38 minutes after liftoff.”
Full Story (Space News)

SpaceX Successfully Launches Satellites, Misses Booster Landing

CNET News reports that for the first time in a year, “SpaceX appears to have missed the landing of its Falcon 9 first stage booster.” CNET adds that “it seems very likely” that the Falcon 9 used in the launch of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellites on Monday “crashed in the ocean.” Meanwhile, the next set of Starlink satellites is scheduled “to blast off from adjacent Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday at 9:55 p.m. PT (12:55 a.m. Wednesday ET).”
Full Story (CNET News)

SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Satellites Atop Falcon 9 Rocket

Space News reports that at 8:02 a.m. Wednesday, SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket launched from KSC’s Launch Complex 39A, and deployed the satellites 65 minutes after liftoff. The rocket’s “first stage, making its eighth flight, landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.” The launch “was the first time SpaceX flew a booster eight times.”
Full Story (Space News)

SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Satellites Atop Falcon 9

SPACE reports that on Tuesday at 9:13 p.m. EST, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 Starlink satellites. Approximately nine minutes after launch, the Falcon 9’s first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. Tuesday’s launch marked the seventh launch for this Falcon 9 first stage, a record for the company.
Full Story (SPACE)

SpaceX Aborts Friday’s Launch of GPS Satellite for US Space Force

Spaceflight Now reported that at 9:43 p.m. EDT Friday, SpaceX aborted the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a GPS satellite for the US Space Force. The rocket “was just two seconds from launching…when an automated abort halted the countdown.” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk “tweeted that the Falcon 9 launch was aborted after an ‘unexpected pressure rise in the turbomachinery gas generator,’ referring to equipment used on the rocket’s Merlin main engines.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

SpaceX Scrubs Launch of 60 Starlink Satellites Due to “Recovery Issue”

SPACE reports that on Thursday, SpaceX said it was delaying the launch of 60 Starlink satellites scheduled to launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 2:19 p.m. Thursday. The cancellation was announced 15 minutes before the rocket was scheduled to lift off. SpaceX said on Twitter, “Standing down from today’s Starlink launch due to recovery issue; vehicle and payload remain healthy.” SpaceX “did not specify the nature of the ‘recovery issue,’ but it is presumably related to the company’s plan to recover the first stage of the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket by landing it on the company’s drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ in the Atlantic Ocean. Good weather at the floating landing pad is required to ensure a safe landing.” SpaceX said in a separate tweet that it will not attempt to launch the mission on Friday because of poor weather conditions expected in the recovery zone of the first-stage booster.
Full Story (SPACE)

Weather 60% “Go” for SpaceX’s Launch of Starlink Satellites Thursday

Florida Today reports that SpaceX plans to launch a batch of Starlink satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket Thursday. Liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 2:17 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center. Weather “is currently 60% ‘go’ for the Thursday attempt with the primary concern being rain showers and thunderstorms, according to the 45th Weather Squadron.” If there is a delay, “weather drops to 40% ‘go’ for a Friday attempt due to Hurricane Sally moving eastward and bringing more storms to the Space Coast.”
Full Story (Florida Today)