Update July 11, 12:21 a.m. EDT (0421 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the Starlink satellites
SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink satellites Friday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base using its second most-flown Falcon 9 first stage booster.
The Starlink 17-48 mission added another 24 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit constellation. SpaceX currently has more than 10,700 spacecraft within its constellation.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 8:01 p.m. PDT (11:01 p.m. EDT / 0301 UTC). The rocket flew on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.
SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1071. This was its 35th flight after launching NASA’s SWOT, five missions for the National Reconnaissance Office, and five missions for its SmallSat Rideshare Program.
More than eight minutes after liftoff, B1071 landed on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You’, positioned in the Pacific Ocean. This was the 209th landing on this vessel and the 636th booster landing for SpaceX.
