SpaceX successfully launched one other Starlink mission at 11:02 PM PT (06:02 UTC), this time sending 52 V1.5 Starlink satellites to orbit from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. These satellites will probably be placed right into a 70-degree orbital inclination across the Earth.
Launching the Starlink Group 2-10 mission, was B1061, on its 14th flight. Previously having supported the Crew 1 and Crew 2 missions, 4 prior Starlink missions, and various business satellite missions.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/X3CfnaACVC
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 31, 2023
Roughly 17 minutes after launch, the 52 Starlink satellites were deployed from stage 2, nevertheless, this took place over an area with no ground stations and SpaceX had to attend a bit longer to verify a successful mission. With this Starlink mission, SpaceX has launched over 4,500 Starlink satellites, of which, around 4,100 are working. This current Group 2-10 satellites will now undergo checkouts before actively joining the constellation.
Following stage separation, B1061 successfully touched down on the droneship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ and will probably be brought back to the Port of Los Angeles in the next days before being refurbished and readied for its next mission. Currently, no Falcon 9 has flown greater than 15 times but SpaceX is currently within the means of extending the 15 flight certification to twenty as they prove the reusability capabilities of the Falcon 9.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship pic.twitter.com/y1GYqLL97w
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 31, 2023
On top of all of this, just a number of hours earlier SpaceX landed 4 humans back on Earth after a 10-day stay in space, 8 of which were docked to the International Space Station.
Coming up next for SpaceX looks to be a busy start of June, there could possibly be up 5 Falcon 9 launches inside the first 10 days of the month, nevertheless, 4 of those are scheduled to launch from Florida where the weather could play spoiler and would require a really rapid turnaround of the launch pads on the Space Coast. With SpaceX, you’ll be able to never rule out such a cadence if the weather holds.
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