Update May 25, 8:53 a.m. EDT (1253 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of 29 Starlink satellites.
The expansion of SpaceX’s Starlink network of Internet relay satellites continued Monday with a Memorial Day launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Starlink 10-47 mission joins the other 29 Starlink V2 Mini optimized satellites in the low Earth orbit megaconstellation, which includes more than 10,000 spacecraft. It was SpaceX’s 60th orbital flight of the year, involving 59 Falcon 9 rockets and one Falcon Heavy rocket.
The liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 7:48 a.m. EDT (1148 UTC). Upon leaving the pad the rocket flew on a north-easterly trajectory.
On Sunday, the 45th Weather Squadron predicted an 85 percent chance of favorable weather during the launch window. Meteorologists said they are seeing a small chance of interference from cumulus clouds.
“There will still be a chance of rain in the Atlantic and surge on the coast at the beginning of the window, making cumulus cloud rule violations the primary concern on launch day,” Space Force meteorologists said in a forecast released Sunday.
SpaceX launched the mission using Falcon 9 first stage B1078, making its 28th flight. Its previous missions included NASA’s Crew-6, USSF-124, SES’s O3b mPOWER-B, Bluebird 1-5, Nusantara Lima (PSN N5), and 22 Starlink deliveries.
About 8.5 minutes after takeoff, B1078 landed on the drone ship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. This was the 151st landing for this spacecraft and the 614th booster landing ever for SpaceX.
Meanwhile, the second stage lifted off after eight minutes and 39 seconds and entered the coast stage, before performing a second stage burn at T+52 minutes. The constellation of Starlink satellites deployed 61 minutes and 26 seconds after launch.
