The data maintain rolling in for SpaceX.
One of many firm’s Falcon 9 rockets lifted off from California’s Vandenberg House Drive Base in the present day (Oct. 25) at 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 GMT; 7:20 a.m. native time), carrying 28 Starlink web satellites towards low Earth orbit (LEO).
All of SpaceX’s orbital flights this yr have been carried out by Falcon 9s, which have now launched as many missions previously 11 months as NASA’s area shuttle flew in its 30-year historical past.
SpaceX has additionally launched 5 suborbital check flights of its Starship megarocket to this point this yr. In 2024, the corporate launched 132 Falcon 9 missions, two flights of the extra highly effective Falcon Heavy, and 4 Starship suborbital assessments.
Earlier Booster 1081 missions
On in the present day’s flight, the Falcon 9 got here again to Earth as deliberate, touchdown within the Pacific Ocean on the drone ship “Of Course I Nonetheless Love You” about 8.5 minutes after liftoff. It was the nineteenth launch and landing for this specific booster, which is designated 1081.
The Falcon 9’s higher stage, in the meantime, continued carrying the 28 Starlink satellites towards LEO, the place they are going to be deployed about an hour after liftoff.
SpaceX has notched quite a few vital milestones previously week or so. For instance, one current mission launched the 10,000th Starlink satellite tv for pc to orbit, and one other was the record-breaking thirty first flight of the Falcon 9 booster generally known as 1067.
And the Oct. 23 launch of the Spainsat NG-2 satellite tv for pc was the 139th general liftoff of the yr for SpaceX, additionally a brand new document.
