SpaceX Successfully Launches Falcon 9 Starlink Mission

SpaceX Successfully Launches Falcon 9 Starlink Mission
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 27, 2024

SpaceX successfully launched 23 Starlink broadband satellites early Saturday morning, marking its return to flight operations after a brief hiatus due to a recent anomaly.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:45 a.m. EDT, right within its planned four-hour launch window. SpaceX provided a live stream of the event, showcasing the rocket's journey to space.

Approximately eight minutes post-launch, the reusable Falcon 9 first stage completed its mission with a vertical landing on a SpaceX drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, further demonstrating the company's advanced reusability technology.

In the event of any delays, SpaceX has scheduled an additional four-hour backup launch window for the following day, as mentioned on their official website.

This launch is the first for SpaceX since July 11, when a Falcon 9 rocket experienced a liquid oxygen leak, described by the company as an anomaly. This incident led to the deployment of 20 satellites into a lower-than-intended orbit and prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporarily ground the rocket fleet.

Following the incident, SpaceX's investigation team, under the FAA's oversight, determined the probable cause and implemented corrective actions to prevent future occurrences. "SpaceX submitted its mishap report to the Federal Aviation Administration regarding Falcon 9's launch anomaly on July 11, 2024. SpaceX's investigation team, with oversight from the FAA, was able to identify the most probable cause of the mishap and associated corrective actions to ensure the success of future missions," the company stated.

The FAA reviewed SpaceX's findings and concluded that there were no public safety issues associated with the anomaly. Despite efforts to salvage some of the satellites from the July 11 launch by raising their altitudes, all 20 satellites eventually re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.

"Unfortunately, the satellites were in an enormously high-drag environment with a very low perigee of only 135 km above the Earth. As a result, all 20 Starlink satellites from this launch re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. By design, Starlink satellites fully demise upon reentry, posing no threat to public safety. To-date, no debris has been reported after the successful deorbit of Starlink satellites," SpaceX noted in their statement.