SpaceX effectively launched another batch of its Starlink satellites into orbit in the early hours of the morning (Jan. 14), even as the company plans its next liftoff tonight.
A Falcon Nine rocket with 22 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday, Jan. 14 at 3:5 a. m. m. EST (08:5 nine a. m. GMT; 0:5 a. m. local time in California). The project was originally scheduled to launch on January 9. Attempts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday were canceled due to poor weather conditions.
The launch is the first of two back-to-back launches for SpaceX on Sunday. At 7:27 p.m. EST (0027 GMT), another Falcon 9 rocket will launch 23 more Starlink satellites into orbit from a SpaceX pad at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
The first level of the Falcon 9 will return to Earth about 8. 5 minutes after liftoff and land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
This is the 18th launch and landing of this specific booster, according to a description of the SpaceX project. That’s just one shy of SpaceX’s 19-flight reusability record, set last month through a Falcon nine first stage.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 level continued to carry the 22 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, where they were scheduled to deploy about 62. 5 minutes after liftoff.
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Starlink is SpaceX’s high-speed megaconstellation, broadcasting to consumers around the world. The network has recently more than 5,250 spacecraft and this number will continue to grow in the future.
Sunday’s mission will be the fourth orbital flight of 2024 for SpaceX, which wants to launch 144 missions this year. The company’s current record is 98 liftoffs, which which was set in 2023.
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Michael Wall is a senior space writer at Space. com and joined the team in 2010. It basically covers exoplanets, spaceflight, and military space, but it’s known for getting into the field of space art. His book on the search for extraterrestrial life, “Out There,” published on November 13, 2018. Prior to becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He holds a Ph. D. in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a B. A. from the University of Arizona and a Graduate Certificate in Science Writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest assignment is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
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