Spaceline News Archives
October 2023
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-25 Launch, Photo Courtesy SpaceX
Falcon 9 Launches 23 Starlink V2-Mini Satellites
October 30, 2023 | Reported by Cliff Lethbridge
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 23 Starlink V2-Mini satellites at 7:20 p.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the eighth time, having previously supported the Crew-5, GPS III-SV06, Inmarsat-16F2, CRS-28, Intelsat-G37 and two Starlink missions. The booster was successfully recovered today with a landing on the "Just Read the Instructions" drone ship, positioned on the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. The mission is designated Starlink 6-25. Starlink is a SpaceX-owned and operated constellation of broadband Internet satellites, intended to provide space-based Internet service to users worldwide. The service is currently available on all seven continents to over 1.5 million subscribers.
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-25 Launch, Photo Courtesy SpaceX
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-24 Launch, Photo Courtesy SpaceX
Falcon 9 Launches 23 Starlink V2-Mini Satellites
October 21, 2023 | Reported by Cliff Lethbridge
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 23 Starlink V2-Mini satellites at 10:17 p.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the fourth time, having previously supported the Euclid, Axiom-2 and one Starlink mission. The booster was successfully recovered today with a landing on the "A Shortfall of Gravitas" drone ship, positioned on the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. The mission, designated Starlink 6-24, brings to a total of 5,331 Starlink satellites launched to date, although not all of these are operational or still in orbit. Starlink is a SpaceX-owned and operated constellation of broadband Internet satellites, intended to provide space-based Internet service to users worldwide. The service is currently available on all seven continents to over 1.5 million subscribers.
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-24 Downrange, Photo Courtesy Carleton Bailie/Spaceline
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-23 Launch, Photo Courtesy SpaceX
Falcon 9 Launches 22 Starlink V2-Mini Satellites
October 17, 2023 | Reported by Cliff Lethbridge
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 22 Starlink V2-Mini satellites at 8:39 p.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the 16th time, having previously supported the GPS III-SV04, GPS III-SV05, Inspiration4, Axiom-1, Nilesat-301, OneWeb-17, Badr-8 and eight Starlink missions. The booster was successfully recovered today with a landing on the "Just Read the Instructions" drone ship, positioned on the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. The mission, designated Starlink 6-23, brings to a total of 5,287 Starlink satellites launched to date, although not all of these are operational or still in orbit. Starlink is a SpaceX-owned and operated constellation of broadband Internet satellites, intended to provide space-based Internet service to users worldwide. The service is currently available on all seven continents to over 1.5 million subscribers.
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-23 Launch, Photo Courtesy Carleton Bailie/Spaceline
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-22 Launch, Photo Courtesy SpaceX
Falcon 9 Launches 22 Starlink V2-Mini Satellites
October 13, 2023 | Reported by Cliff Lethbridge
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 22 Starlink V2-Mini satellites at 7:01 p.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the 14th time, having previously supported the CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat-5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Hotbird-13G, O3B MPOWER-A, Satria and five Starlink missions. The booster was successfully recovered today with a landing on the "A Shortfall of Gravitas" drone ship, positioned on the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. The mission, designated Starlink 6-22, brings to a total of 5,265 Starlink satellites launched to date, although not all of these are operational or still in orbit. Starlink is a SpaceX-owned and operated constellation of broadband Internet satellites, intended to provide space-based Internet service to users worldwide. The service is currently available on all seven continents to over 1.5 million subscribers.
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-22 Launch, Photo Courtesy Carleton Bailie/Spaceline
Falcon Heavy Psyche Launch, Photo Courtesy Carleton Bailie/Spaceline
Falcon Heavy Launches Psyche Spacecraft
October 13, 2023 | Reported by Cliff Lethbridge
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket successfully launched the Psyche spacecraft at 10:19 a.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The two side boosters employed today were being flown for the fourth time, both having previously supported the USSF-44, USSF-67 and Jupiter-3 missions. The side boosters were successfully recovered today with landings at Landing Zone-1 and Landing Zone-2 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The center core booster employed today was being flown for the first time and was not recovered. The Psyche spacecraft is headed to the metal-rich Psyche asteroid, which is orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft should go into orbit around the Psyche asteroid in August, 2029 at a distance of about 2.2 billion miles from Earth. The mission will also include the first deep space test of the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) system, which is designed to provide deep space communications using near infrared laser.
Falcon Heavy Psyche Side Boosters Landing, Photo Courtesy SpaceX
Atlas V Kuiper Protoflight Launch, Photo Courtesy United Launch Alliance
Atlas V Launches Project Kuiper Protoflight Mission
October 6, 2023 | Reported by Cliff Lethbridge
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket successfully launched the Project Kuiper Protoflight mission at 2:06 p.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket was being flown in the 501 configuration, featuring a five-meter payload fairing, no solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur second stage. The Project Kuiper Protoflight mission consists of two satellites, KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2. The satellites are the first test satellites in the planned Kuiper broadband Internet satellite constellation, owned and operated by Amazon. The constellation, as envisioned, will consist of over 3,000 satellites launched over a six year period. The satellites launched today will be de-orbited after their test mission concludes in about a year.
Atlas V Kuiper Protoflight Launch, Photo Courtesy United Launch Alliance
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-21 Launch, Photo Courtesy SpaceX
Falcon 9 Launches 22 Starlink V2-Mini Satellites
October 5, 2023 | Reported by Cliff Lethbridge
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 22 Starlink V2-Mini satellites at 1:36 a.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the eighth time, having previously supported the CRS-26, OneWeb-16, Intelsat-40E and four Starlink missions. The booster was successfully recovered today with a landing on the "Just Read the Instructions" drone ship, positioned on the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. The mission, designated Starlink 6-21, brings to a total of 5,222 Starlink satellites launched to date, although not all of these are operational or still in orbit. Starlink is a SpaceX-owned and operated constellation of broadband Internet satellites, intended to provide space-based Internet service to users worldwide. The service is currently available on all seven continents to over 1.5 million subscribers.
Falcon 9 Starlink 6-21 Downrange, Photo Courtesy SpaceX
