CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE — SpaceX successfully launched more than 50 Starlink satellites late Saturday night.
What You Need To Know
- SpaceX sent 54 Starlink satellites to orbit Saturday night
- Get more space news and coverage here ▶
- 🔻Scroll down to watch the launch🔻
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/JAYJnosbVZ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 16, 2023
The Falcon 9 rocket left Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base at 11:50 p.m. ET, as it sent 54 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.
The rocket originally was scheduled for launch at 12:40 a.m. Friday. At around T-40 seconds of the launch countdown, a SpaceX official was heard over the company’s live stream calling for a hold, followed by, “aborting launch automation. Launch abort is running.”
SpaceX did not give a reason for scrubbing the launch.
“Keep in mind that the purpose of the countdown is to help us catch any issues prior to flight. There are a thousand ways to launch a rocket and there’s only one way that it can go right,” Atticus Vadera, a propulsion engineer at SpaceX, said during the live stream.
Because the launch was instantaneous (meaning the Falcon 9 rocket had to launch at that exact moment), it rescheduled the launch attempt initially for Saturday, July 15, at 12:15 a.m. ET, according to SpaceX.
But later Friday, SpaceX posted on its website that it would try again at 11:50 p.m. ET Saturday. No explanation was given. If needed, another launch opportunity is available at 11:24 p.m. Sunday, SpaceX stated.
Discover more about NASA’s weather criteria for the Falcon 9 rocket here.
The first-stage booster B1060 is assigned to the Starlink Group 5-15 mission and it already has 15 successful missions under its belt:
- GPS III-3
- Turksat 5A
- Transporter-2
- Transporter-6
- Intelsat G-33/G-34
- 10 Starlink missions
After the stage separation, the Falcon 9's booster landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas that was out in the Atlantic Ocean.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/huAzkLXlEA
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 16, 2023
About the mission
The Starlink Group 5-15 mission sent 54 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit. Starlink, a company owned and operated by SpaceX, provides internet services to parts of the world.
Before Saturday night's launch, the current number of Starlink satellites — recorded by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Dr. Jonathan McDowell — are as follows:
- 4,432 are in orbit
- 4,397 in working order
- 3,767 are operational
Watch the launch
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