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SpaceX skirts the weather to launch 29 Starlink satellites

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CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — SpaceX found a window to launch nearly 30 Starlink satellites on Tuesday afternoon, despite some winds trying to change those plans.

What You Need To Know

  • SpaceX sent off Starlink 6-95 mission on Tuesday at 5:18 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
  • The 29 satellites will head to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands already there once deployed

The Falcon 9 rocket sent up the Starlink 6-95 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:18 p.m.

The launch window ran from 3:16 p.m. ET to 7:16 p.m. ET, meaning the California-based company had during this time slot to send up its Falcon 9 rocket.

The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 70% chance at the start of the window and up to an 80% chance of good liftoff conditions near the end.

The concerns against the launch included cumulus cloud, disturbed weather and thick cloud layers rules.

Besides showers and a possible isolated thunderstorm, winds were another concern, according to the squadron.

“Breezy winds are expected in stronger storms, with gusts near 30 mph possible. Weather conditions currently look worse at the beginning of the primary launch window, then improve towards the end of the window as the front shifts south of the area,” the squadron stated.

Find out more about the weather criteria for a Falcon 9 launch.

The 25th launch

This will be the 25th mission for the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster B1077.

Its previous missions included a crew launch and a boatload of Starlink ones.

  1. Crew-5
  2. GPS III Space Vehicle 06
  3. Inmarsat I-6 F2
  4. CRS-28
  5. Intelsat G-37
  6. NG-20
  7. Optus-X
  8. Starlink 5-10 mission
  9. Starlink 6-13 mission
  10. Starlink 6-25 mission
  11. Starlink 6-33 mission
  12. Starlink 6-43 mission
  13. Starlink 6-51 mission
  14. Starlink 6-63 mission
  15. Starlink 10-4 mission
  16. Starlink 8-11 mission
  17. Starlink 6-71 mission
  18. Starlink 12-8 mission

  19. Starlink 12-25 mission
  20. Starlink 12-23 mission
  21. Starlink 12-19 mission
  22. Starlink 10-28 mission
  23. Starlink 10-14 mission
  24. Starlink 10-21 mission

After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket should land on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas that should be in the Atlantic Ocean.

About the mission

The 29 satellites will head to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands already there once deployed.

SpaceX owns the Starlink company, where the satellites provide internet service to many areas of the round Earth.

Dr. Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has been recording Starlink satellites.

Before this launch, McDowell documented the following:

  • 9,093 are in orbit
  • 7,867 are in operational orbit

Anthony Leone

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