Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX launched the Starlink 10-9 mission early Saturday morning from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff was at 01:45 AM EDT, and Booster B1069 completed its 17th flight by successfully landing on the Automated Spaceport Drone Ship ‘Just Read The Instructions’ roughly 8.25 minutes after lifting off and lofting the payload towards orbit.
SpaceX announced a successful payload deployment at 02:49 AM EDT.
This was a Return To Flight mission after the Starlink 9-3 mishap, one that the company stated Friday was the result of “a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle’s oxygen system.”
SpaceX devised and tested a fix quickly after identifying the root cause of the problem, allowing them to fly this morning’s mission a mere 15 days after that issue caused a rare failure in Falcon 9’s second stage. Earlier today, Sarah Walker, the Director of Dragon Mission Management at SpaceX said in a Crew 9 update that the company had removed the faulty sense line and tested the repair at the company’s engine facility in Macgregor, Texas. The fix was also successful in Falcon 9’s Return To Flight mission this morning.
Launch Replay
Payload
Twenty-three Starlink Mini V2 satellites. Once fully operational, the satellites will join the burgeoning Starlink constellation, which serves over three million customers in around one hundred countries worldwide.
Photo via SpaceX
Next Launch
SpaceX is scheduled to launch another set of Starlink satellites early on Sunday morning, this time from Space Launch Complex 40.
- Date: NET July 28, 2024
- Organization: SpaceX
- Mission: Starlink Group 10-4
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Launch Window: 12:13 – 04:43 AM EDT
- Payload: Starlink Mini v2 satellites
Keep in mind that launch dates and times change often. Launch attempts can be scrubbed anytime due to weather, technical reasons, or range conditions.
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