SpaceX Falcon 9 launches early Saturday; rocket booster logs 19th landing atop drone ship
After its target launch time pushed back past midnight, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocketed into low-Earth orbit early Saturday morning amid a moderate risk of upper-level wind shear.
The SpaceX Starlink 6-32 mission lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at 12:33 a.m. EST at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. That represented a 93-minute delay from the original 11 p.m. Friday target.
In a historical footnote, the launch occurred on the heels of the eight-year anniversary of SpaceX successfully landing a Falcon 9 rocket booster for the first time on Dec. 21, 2015, at the Cape.
"Eight years ago today, SpaceX successfully landed an orbital class rocket for the first time. Since that time, SpaceX has landed Falcon rockets more than 250 times and counting," SpaceX officials said in a Thursday afternoon tweet.
Saturday's Starlink mission marked the fleet-leading 19th flight for the Falcon 9's first-stage booster, which landed atop the drone ship Just Read the Instructions on the Atlantic Ocean after stage separation.
This battle-tested booster previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-11, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3 and 13 Starlink missions, SpaceX reported.
By dinnertime Friday, isolated rain pockets were sweeping onshore across the Space Coast.
"Another batch of quick-hitting showers for our coastline this evening," the National Weather Service station in Melbourne tweeted shortly after 5 p.m. alongside an animated radar loop.
SpaceX announced Thursday that its Starlink broadband satellite internet system now connects more than 2.3 million people in more than 70 countries. The 70th country receiving high-speed service: Paraguay.
The early Saturday launch was the record-extending 70th this year from Cape Canaveral. Next week, SpaceX and the Space Force continue to target Dec. 28 to launch a Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle — a robotic space plane capable of spending years in orbit — at 7 p.m. EST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
For the latest launch schedule updates from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and KSC, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Saturday; rocket booster logs 19th landing
