SpaceX launched the Starlink 6-69 mission to low-Earth orbit late this afternoon, and by so doing completed its second launch from the Eastern Range in a mere four hours and six minutes.
First, SpaceX launched Koreasat 6A from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 12:22 PM EST, then they launched Starlink 6-69 from Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:28 PM EST, both on a Falcon 9.
Both launches were successes.
Koreasat 6A
SpaceX launched the Koreasat 6A satellite from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center this afternoon. Liftoff was at 12:22 PM EDT under blue skies and on a warm afternoon here on the Space Coast.
Several minutes after launching, Booster B1067 touched down at Landing Zone 1 in Cape Canaveral and became the first SpaceX booster to successfully complete 23 launches and landings. Two other Falcon 9 boosters have also flown 23 times, with one being expended (with no landing attempt) and another that did not land successfully and was destroyed.
About the same time that the booster landed, the initial orbit for the payload was achieved. At 12:57 PM EST SpaceX announced the payload had been successfully deployed, concluding another successful Falcon 9 mission for the company.
Photo: Ed Cordero / FMN
Starlink 6-69
SpaceX launched the Starlink 6-69 mission to low-Earth orbit later in the afternoon on November 11, and by so doing completed its second launch from the Eastern Range (Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center) in less than five hours.
Starlink 6-69 launched aboard Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:28 PM EST, a mere four hours and six minutes after SpaceX launched Koreasat 6A from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
The booster for that flight, B1080, completed its 12th mission when it touched down safely aboard one of SpaceX’s drone ships, ASDS ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ The droneship and booster will return to Port Canaveral, where the booster will be unloaded, returned to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility in Kennedy Space Center to be inspected and presumably prepared for its next flight.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
Next Launch
The next launch from the Eastern Range is a near carbon copy of today’s Starlink 6-69 flight. Starlink 6-68 is slated to launch from SLC-40 on Thursday with the launch window opening at 5:33 AM EST and extending to 9:33 AM the same day. The payload is another group of Starlink satellites to join SpaceX’s constellation of data satellites.
- Date: NET November 14, 2024
- Organization: SpaceX / NASA
- Mission: Starlink 6-68
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Launch Site: Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral
- Launch Window: 5:33 AM – 9:33 AM EST
- Payload: Starlink satellites
Keep in mind that launch dates and times change often. Launch attempts can be scrubbed anytime due to weather, technical reasons, or range conditions.
