On Tuesday, September 19 at 11:38 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth 8.5 minutes after launch, landing on a SpaceX drone ship stationed at sea. SpaceX launches have been dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation, that consists of more than 4,700 operational satellites.
This was the 17th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-11, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3, and now 12 Starlink missions. Those figures are record breaking as the previous mark was 16, held by two different Falcon 9 boosters.
The 22 Starlink satellites deployed from the Falcon 9’s upper stage 62.5 minutes after launch as planned.
Tuesday night’s launch also created another record as it was SpaceX’s 65th orbital mission of the year. The company’s previous mark, 61, was set in 2022.