Update 10:04 p.m. EST (0304 UTC): SpaceX confirmed deployment of the 22 Starlink satellites.
SpaceX accomplished its first of three deliberate Falcon 9 launches earlier than the tip of 12 months. The trio started with a Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The Starlink 11-3 mission added one other 22 V2 Mini satellites to the megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) occurred at 5:58:30 p.m. PST (8:58:30 p.m. EST, 0158:30 UTC).
The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail quantity B1075 within the SpaceX fleet, launched for a sixteenth time. It beforehand supported the launches of Transporter-11, SARah-2 and 12 Starlink missions.
Just a little greater than eight minutes after liftoff, B1075 touched down on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ which was positioned within the Pacific Ocean. This marked the one hundred and fifteenth booster touchdown on OCISLY and the 388th booster touchdown so far.
SpaceX has another Starlink mission scheduled earlier than closing out 2024. The Starlink 12-6 is positioned to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at midnight to start Dec. 30, barring climate or technical delays.
In between these Starlink flights, SpaceX will make one other try at launching the ‘Astranis: From One to Many’ from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The firm had a pad abort throughout the Dec. 21 launch try, which prevented the launch.
Without any fanfare, or rationalization on the basis explanation for the difficulty, SpaceX determined to change the booster getting used on the Astranis flight. It swapped out B1077 and introduced up B1083 as a substitute.
Assuming all three launches can happen earlier than New Year’s Day, SpaceX will shut out 2024 with a complete of 134 orbital launches utilizing its Falcon household of rockets, which is 10 shy of the corporate’s purpose set at the start of the 12 months. Two of that whole have been Falcon Heavy flights with the remaining being Falcon 9 launches.
In a put up on X, previously Twitter, Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s Vice President of Launch, famous that reaching these three can even mark “a document quarter for each Falcon and SpaceX.” The firm is on monitor to finish 41 orbital launches this quarter.
We’re now focusing on 134 launches – two shy of our final purpose – to complete 2024 sturdy, with a launch from every pad and a document quarter for each Falcon and @SpaceX.
Ultimately, there is just one quantity that really issues. ZERO failures. Our precedence is – and can stay – security… https://t.co/b3YO1Fm839
— Kiko Dontchev (@TurkeyBeaver) December 27, 2024
