SpaceX launched a batch of Starlink satellites on Tuesday, its first evening flight after the FAA lifted a ban on commercial launches due to the government shutdown.
The Starlink 6-94 mission lifted off from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:12 p.m. EST (0012 UTC) carrying 29 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink internet service. It was the 99th launch from the Florida spaceport this year.
At one point, the mission was scheduled to take off after 10 pm EST due to a daytime curfew imposed on commercial launches by the FAA as it struggled to maintain air traffic control during the recent government shutdown. Those restrictions, which did not affect government missions, were lifted on Monday.
The launch times of the last two Starlink missions from the Florida spaceport on November 14/15 were moved to after 10 p.m. EST to accommodate the restrictions.
Meteorologists with the 45th Weather Squadron based at Cape Canaveral issued a forecast Monday predicting a 95 percent chance of acceptable conditions for the launch.
Upon takeoff, Falcon 9 went on a south-easterly trajectory. Falcon 9 booster B1085, flying its 12th flight, landed on drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ deployed in the Atlantic east of the Bahamas.
In a social media post, SpaceX confirmed the successful deployment of 29 Starlink satellites on the Falcon 9’s second stage, about an hour, five minutes after launch.
