Update 4:40 a.m. EDT (0840 UTC): Falcon 9 launched
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 21 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This is the first of two scheduled Starlink delivery missions for Saturday. The launch took place at 1:23 a.m. PDT (4:23 a.m. EDT, 0823 UTC).
The Falcon 9 followed a south-easterly trajectory after departing from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E). This mission marks SpaceX’s 22nd launch from the West Coast in 2023 and its 75th orbital launch overall this year.
The first stage booster, on its 16th flight, had previously been used for various missions including Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, and six Starlink missions. After completing its main burn, lasting approximately two and a half minutes, the first stage safely landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean offshore of Baja California, around 400 miles downrange (644km).
Deployment of the 21 V2 Mini Starlink satellites is expected to occur about an hour after launch. The V2 Mini model is larger than its V1.5 predecessor, featuring upgraded antennae and larger solar panels. These next-generation satellites are capable of delivering four times the bandwidth of the previous satellites. This launch marks the 28th mission for the V2 Mini satellites since their introduction in February of this year.
A second Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for Saturday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission will carry 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, the most to be deployed on a single mission.
