Update July 11, 12:21 am EDT (0421 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of Starlink satellites
SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink satellites Friday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base using its second-most flown Falcon 9 first stage booster.
The Starlink 17-48 mission adds 24 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit. SpaceX currently has more than 10,700 spacecraft in its fleet.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East occurred at 8:01 p.m. PDT (11:01 p.m. EDT/0301 UTC). Upon leaving the pad the rocket flew on a south-southwesterly trajectory.
SpaceX launched the mission using a Falcon 9 first stage booster with tail number B1071. It was its 35th flight, having launched five missions for NASA’s SWOT, National Reconnaissance Office, and five missions for its SmallSat RideShare program.
More than eight minutes after takeoff, B1071 landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ located in the Pacific Ocean. This was the 209th landing on this spacecraft and the 636th booster landing for SpaceX.
