28.12.2024
Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg SFB announced for Saturday evening
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. – SpaceX has announced a Falcon 9 launch window for Starlink satellites destined for low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg SFB on Saturday, Dec. 28, starting at 5:48 p.m. and lasting until 9:31 p.m.
Additional launch times from Space Launch Complex 4 East have been announced if necessary on Sunday, Dec. 29 starting at 5:12 p.m. added SpaceX.
A live webcast of the launch will begin about five minutes before liftoff that you can watch here.
Following first stage separation, the Falcon 9 assigned to this mission will return to Earth to land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
A depiction of the various stages of this launch is shown in the image below courtesy of SpaceX.
Quelle: NEWS CHANNEL12-3-11
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Update: 29.12.2024
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On Saturday, December 28 at 5:58 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This was the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SARah-2, Transporter-11, SDA-0A and now 13 Starlink missions.
Quelle: SpaceX
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3... 2... 1... SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on third-to-last mission of 2024
The Falcon 9 launch occurred at 8:48 p.m. EST from California.
A time lapse exposure captures the arc followed by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as it launched into the night sky from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Dec. 28, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX has begun counting down to the New Year, with the launch of the first of three rockets planned to close out 2024.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 of the company’s Starlink satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday (Dec. 28). The mission launched at 8:48 p.m. EST (5:48 p.m. PST local time or 0148 GMT on Dec. 29) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E).
The satellites were deployed into low Earth orbit about 65 minutes later, as to plan. It was SpaceX’s 132nd Falcon launch this year, with two still scheduled over the next two days — a commercial communications satellites mission and another batch of Starlink satellites.
“We’re now targeting 134 launches — two shy of our last goal — to finish 2024 strong," wrote Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s vice president of launch, on the social media network X. “Here’s to an awesome last couple of days in 2024 and an even better 2025!”
Saturday’s Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth safely, touching down on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes after liftoff.
It was the 16th landing for this particular booster, according to a company mission description. Twelve of its 16 flights to date have been Starlink missions.
It was SpaceX’s 88th launch this year of Starlink broadband internet satellites, with just one failing due to an upper stage liquid oxygen leak.
“Ultimately, there is only one number that truly matters. ZERO failures. Our priority is – and will remain – safety and reliability above all else,” wrote Dontchev.
The Starlink megaconstellation — the biggest ever assembled — currently consists of nearly 6,700 active spacecraft, according to satellite tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
Quelle: SC