SpaceX continues its incredible pace with the launch of 22 V2 mini Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This launch marked the 77th mission of the year for the company, with 50 of those being Starlink satellite missions.
With two more months left in 2023, SpaceX is on pace to eclipse 90+ launches in a calendar year. No other company or country is currently anywhere close to the amount of hardware SpaceX has launched into orbit this year.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/yC4VCU7SuJ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 29, 2023
While a vast majority of those payloads have been Starlink satellites, SpaceX is still launching critical missions for NASA, including crew rotations and re-supply missions to the International Space Station to communications satellites for private companies.
The 22 Starlink satellites that are currently going through checkouts were deployed from the second stage of the Falcon 9 just over an hour after the lift-off and were inserted into a 53-degree orbital inclination. With this launch, SpaceX has now launched over 4,900 Starlink satellites into orbit.
As for the Falcon 9 entrusted with this mission, Booster 1075 took the job, completing its 7th mission after just a 34-day turnaround, previously having launched a Starlink mission on September 25th. Following its portion of the flight, B1075 landed on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” eight and a half minutes after lift-off.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship pic.twitter.com/yNEifkWCPa
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 29, 2023
SpaceX had planned back-to-back launches with another Starlink mission from Florida, but with just 30 seconds left in the count, an abort was called.
The launch director announced that the abort was called due to “stage sep center pusher accumulator pressure slope check during terminal count” being the reason behind the delayed launch. SpaceX will give it another try later tonight and is currently targeting 7:20 p.m. ET (23:20 UTC on the 31st). If SpaceX isn’t able to launch at the opening of the window, they have multiple opportunities until 10:22 p.m. ET.
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Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
