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CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — The weather was quite nice as SpaceX launched more than 20 Starlink satellites on Thursday morning.
What You Need To Know
- SpaceX sent off off Starlink 10-3 mission
- It took off from Space Launch Complex 40
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/GH3FjaqbgG
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 27, 2024
The Falcon 9 rocket sent up Starlink 10-3 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX.
The launch window will opened at 7:14 a.m. ET, with a closure at 11 a.m. ET.
The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 90% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concerns being the cumulus cloud rule.
If there was an issue, SpaceX was considering launching its Starlink satellites on Friday at the same time.
Going up
For this mission, SpaceX is breaking out one of the older Falcon 9 first-stage boosters, B1062. It has 21 impressive missions to its resume, including two crewed flights and a large number of Starlink launches.
After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket returned to the Earth and landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions that will be in the Atlantic Ocean.
Falcon 9 lands on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, completing the first 22nd launch and landing of a booster! pic.twitter.com/8WX1mE4QbH
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 27, 2024
About the mission
Starlink, owned by SpaceX, will see 23 of its satellites go into low-Earth orbit to provide internet services to many parts of our little round world.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Dr. Jonathan McDowell has been recording Starlink satellites and before this mission, he documented the following:
- 6,198 are in orbit
- 5,232 are in operational orbit