SpaceX despatched one other batch of its Starlink broadband web satellites into low Earth orbit at this time (Aug. 18), atop a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Area Drive Base in California.
The launch, at 12:26 p.m. EDT (1626 GMT or 9:26 a.m. PDT native) on Monday marked the corporate’s a hundredth Falcon 9 flight of 2025. It was SpaceX’s 103rd mission general for the yr, together with three suborbital take a look at flights of Starship, the rocket being developed to land people on the moon and Mars.
Monday’s Falcon 9 mission reached its preliminary orbit about 9 minutes after leaving Area Launch Advanced 4 East at Vandenberg and was on observe to deploy the 24 Starlink satellites (Group 17-5) roughly 50 minutes later.
Earlier Booster 1088 missions
This launch marked the ninth flight for the Falcon 9’s first stage (Booster 1088). It efficiently landed once more on the drone ship “Of Course I Nonetheless Love You” within the Pacific Ocean.
With the 24 new satellites, SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation now totals greater than 8,100 lively models, offering international protection for the corporate’s purchasers. In whole, over 9,400 Starlink satellites have been launched since 2018.
Monday’s launch was SpaceX’s 528th accomplished mission, 489 lanidng and 454th reflight of a Falcon 9 first stage.
