The launch was delayed due to bad weather conditions, but the Falcon 9 stage returned to Earth and successfully landed on a platform at sea
On October 5, SpaceX launched 22 more satellites of its Starlink internet constellation into orbit, marking the company’s 70th orbital mission this year.
The Starlink spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday at 10:45 pm local time but was delayed by several hours due to bad weather conditions.
As planned, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket successfully returned to Earth and made a vertical landing on SpaceX’s Just Read the Instructions offshore platform approximately 8.5 minutes after launch.
SpaceX successfully launched 22 Starlink satellites on its 70th mission this year
This is the eighth landing and launch for this Falcon 9 first stage. Of the previous seven launches, four were dedicated to launching Starlink satellites into orbit. Today, the Starlink satellite “constellation” consists of more than 4,800 operational satellites.
The plan was for 22 Starlink satellites to enter low-Earth orbit approximately 65 minutes after launch.
The Falcon 9 rocket has carried 67 SpaceX orbital missions so far this year, and three more missions have been carried by the Falcon Heavy rocket. However, this number is about to increase: Falcon Heavy is scheduled to launch NASA’s Psyche mission on October 12.
This year, SpaceX also conducted a test flight of the Starship spacecraft, designed to carry crew and cargo to low Earth orbit and the Moon. However, this mission, which did not involve placing a payload into orbit, ended four minutes after launch due to technical problems.
