On Friday, March 3 at 10:38 a.m. PT, SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 launched 51 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The Starlink satellites are expected to release from the front end of the rocket all at once, instead of one-at-a-time or in pairs, as spacecraft often do when separating from a launch vehicle.
SpaceX says injecting the satellites into a lower orbit will allow time for checkouts before orbit-raising using their krypton ion thrusters.
This was the twelfth launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, and now three Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
