After a seemingly unusual five-day Thanksgiving break, SpaceX will quickly return to Thanksgiving with 23 Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. I launched it.
Falcon 9 launched at 11:20 p.m. ET (4:20 UTC) and launched toward the southeast into an orbit with an inclination of 43 degrees. This is Group 6-30, and over the next two months the satellite will undergo inspection and raise its orbit until it is fully operational.
The 23 Starlink satellites were deployed in just over an hour after launch. These 23 satellites are V2 mini versions that use argon hole thrusters for improved maneuverability in orbit and can handle four times more bandwidth than the previous V1.5 Starlink.
Previously, SpaceX only launched 22 aircraft at a time from Florida, but recently it was able to add one more as it fine-tuned the Falcon 9’s performance. The V2 mini Starlink version weighs 800 kg (1,800 lb), while the V1.5 satellite weighs only about 306 kg (675 lb).
This was Falcon 9’s 87th orbital mission and 83rd mission of the year. SpaceX could reach 100 launches again this year, barring unforeseen delays, but it’s likely to be very close.
This is the 17th flight of this Falcon 9, Booster 1062, which has so far carried nine Starlink missions, eight astronauts on Inspiration 4 and Axiom 1 missions, two communications satellites, and a GPS III satellite. 2, and the OneWeb Internet satellite constellation with 40 satellites. The satellite enters orbit.
B1062 successfully landed on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions just over eight-and-a-half minutes after launch, and the fairing recovery vessel Bob sailed to the fair a little further downstream before returning to Port Canaveral for final refurbishment. We plan to try to recover half of the ring.
SpaceX’s next plan is to launch a Falcon 9 from California carrying a spy satellite destined for South Korea by December 1 at the earliest. This launch features a return to the landing site after a morning liftoff.
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