29 January 2024
SpaceX launches two rockets from two coasts in Starlink doubleheader
SpaceX launched two more batches of its Starlink internet satellites overnight (Jan. 28-29), on doubleheader liftoffs from both U.S. coasts.
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 23 Starlink spacecraft launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Sunday (Jan. 28) at 6:15 p.m. EST (2315 GMT).
Another Falcon 9 carried 22 more Starlinks skyward from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday at 12:57 a.m. EST (9:57 p.m. local time, and 0557 GMT).
As expected, both Falcon 9’s first stages came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff for a landing on a SpaceX drone ship stationed at sea.
It was the 18th launch and landing for the booster flying from KSC and was the ninth for the one launching from Vandenberg, according to SpaceX. The company’s reuse record is 19 launches, set by a Falcon 9 just last month.
The Falcon 9 upper stages, meanwhile, continued climbing into low Earth orbit to deploy each batch of Starlink satellites a little over an hour after their liftoffs.