Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 today from Pad SLC-40 and sent another twenty-four Starlink satellites to orbit. Liftoff occurred at 5:06 PM EST on what might best be described as a “travel brochure day” — crystal clear skies, with a light breeze and temperatures in the high 60s. In other words, the sort of winter day in Florida draws many tourists because the weather is darn near perfect.
Booster Touches Down Safely
About eight and a half minutes after liftoff, Booster B1069 touched down safely on SpaceX’s A Shortfall of Gravitas automated droneship located offshore in the Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas. It was the booster’s fourteenth flight since it went into service on December 21, 2021, launching the CRS-24 mission to ferry supplies to the International Space Station.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
After returning to Port Canaveral several days from now, Booster B1069 will be returned to SpaceX’s facilities at Hangar X at Kennedy Space Center, where it will be inspected, refurbished, and presumably prepared for its next flight.
Falcon 9 Performance Boosts
In a post on the X platform today, SpaceX noted that today’s “mission [was] carrying one additional Starlink satellite from previous East Coast missions thanks in part to performance increases on Falcon 9.”
Picture Perfect Launch
Initially scheduled for yesterday, today’s launch was the second attempt to complete the Starlink 6-39 mission. Crowds of spectators lined the parks on US-1 in Titusville, the beaches and along FL-528W to watch the liftoff, and weren’t disappointed by the views they could see. Falcon 9 was visible all the way through first stage and slightly afterwards, which is a rare site for a daytime launch.
Next Launch
It will be a busy week at the Eastern Range, so long as the weather cooperates: SpaceX will launch another batch of Starlink satellites to orbit on Wednesday, February 28th, with the Starlink 6-40 mission slated to liftoff between 11:00 AM and 2:31 PM EST from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Not long after that, at 12:04 AM EST on Friday, March 1st, Crew-8 will head to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center.