SpaceFlightNow.com reported the launch as follows. “SpaceX sent up 23 Starlink satellites during a mission from Cape Canaveral just on the other side of midnight, the first of two planned Falcon 9 launches in less than 48 hours. Liftoff from pad 40 occurred at 12:05 a.m. EST (0505 UTC).
After lifting off from Florida’s Space Coast, the Falcon 9 will head south-easterly targeting an orbit inclined 43 degrees to the Equator. After burning its nine Merlin 1D engines for nearly two and a half minutes, the first stage will separate from the second stage and continue downrange to land on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ in the Atlantic Ocean, about 424 miles (682 km) from the launch site.
The rocket’s payload fairing halves will splashdown on parachutes a little further downrange from the drone ship and be scooped up by the support ship ‘Bob’, named after Crew Dragon Demo-2 astronaut Bob Behnken. SpaceX recently released a photograph of a payload fairing half, which had made 13 flights, being recovered from the Ocean following the last Starlink launch.”
Please use the following spaceX.com link for a replay of the launch and description of the mission.
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