Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 booster carrying 23 more Starlink V2 Mini satellites to orbit Saturday night from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center after hours of weather delays. The launch finally came at 11:09 PM EDT, after two pushbacks on the planned L-0 time due to shifting weather on the Space Coast.
There are now more than 6,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, and with each successive tranche, SpaceX expands the reach and bandwidth of their orbital-based Internet service. According to the company, the service is growing in popularity and has over two million active users.
Source: Melbourne National Weather Service radar
The booster landing was aboard SpaceX’s Automated Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) “Just Read The Instructions” northeast of the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean about eight and a half minutes after launching.
“Just Read The Instructions” will return to Port Canaveral in a few days, and afterwards, B1060 will return to SpaceX’s Hanger X facility at Kennedy Space Center for inspection, refurbishment and presumably reuse on its next mission.
Booster
Tonight’s launch marked 19 successful flights for SpaceX’s Booster B-1060, tying an all time reuse record with Boosters 1061 and 1062. Previous missions for 1060 include GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6, Intuitive Machines IM-1, and 12 Starlink missions.
| Booster B-1060 | ||
| Flight Number | Payload | Date |
| 1 | GPS III SV03 | June 30, 2020 |
| 2 | Starlink L11 | September 3, 2020 |
| 3 | Starlink L14 | October 24, 2020 |
| 4 | Türksat 5A | January 8, 2021 |
| 5 | Starlink L18 | February 4. 2021 |
| 6 | Starlink L22 | March 24, 2021 |
| 7 | Starlink L24 | April 29, 2021 |
| 8 | Transporter-2 | June 20, 2021 |
| 9 | Starlink 4-3 | December 2, 2021 |
| 10 | Starlink 4-6 | January 19, 2022 |
| 11 | Starlink 4-9 | March 3, 2022 |
| 12 | Starlink 4-14 | April 21. 2022 |
| 13 | Starlink 4-19 | June 17, 2022 |
| 14 | Galaxy 34 / 35 | October 8, 2022 |
| 15 | Transporter-6 | January 3. 2023 |
| 16 | Starlink 5-15 | July 16, 2023 |
| 17 | Starlink 6-18 | September 24, 2024 |
| 18 | IM-1 Odysseus Lander | February 15, 2024 |
| 19 | Starlink 6-42 | March 23, 2024 |
Booster B1060 record as of March, 24. 2024
Next Launch
Space Coast residents won’t have to wait long for another launch: SpaceX plans to keep up it’s ambitious 2024 launch schedule with the launch Starlink 6-46 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday, March 25, 2024.
Monday’s launch window extends from 5:00 until 9:31 PM EDT.
This story was originally written by FMN correspondent Charles Boyer for TalkofTitusville.com.
