in 2023 November 20 A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Image: Space X. SpaceX launched Falcon 9 from the West Coast with the next batch of 22 Starlink satellites at 2:30 a.m. Monday. PST (5:30 a.m. EST / 1030 UTC).
During this year’s 55th Starlink launch mission, Falcon 9 flew southeast after liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, heading into an orbit of 183 × 178 miles (295 × 286 km). 53 degrees to the equator.
This was the second time SpaceX had activated this Falcon 9. Falcon 9’s countdown was stopped early Sunday morning with just a few minutes left on the clock. SpaceX announced on social media that it “grounded” about seven minutes after its scheduled liftoff time. It did not give a reason why the launch attempt was aborted. The Starlink 7-7 mission was already delayed a day. This latest attempt was repeatedly delayed from its original launch time of 10:33 p.m. PST and now heading into the last chance for a night launch.
The first-stage booster, on its 15th flight, previously launched the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb and the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0B missions. Plus nine previous Starlink delivery missions. After completing the burn, the first stage landed on the Of Course I still Love You unmanned ship, which was parked about 400 miles (644 km) in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.
SpaceX’s first stage booster B1063 landing on the drone ship at the end of its 15th flight. Image: SpaceX. If all goes according to plan, the 22 V2 Mini Starlink satellites will be deployed just over an hour after launch. The V2 Mini model was introduced earlier this year and is much larger than the V1.5 satellites. Equipped with improved antennas and larger solar panels, the latest models can deliver four times the bandwidth of previous satellites.
SpaceX recently announced that more than two million subscribers in more than 60 countries have signed up for its Starlink Internet service. According to statistics compiled by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer Jonathan McDowell, as of 2019. space flight database. Of these satellites, 5,078 remain in orbit and 5,041 are operating normally.
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