KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — A day after SpaceX sent up two missions, on Saturday afternoon the California-based company launched more than 50 Starlink satellites.

What You Need To Know

The company’s renowned Falcon 9 rocket sent off 54 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center to low-Earth orbit. The instantaneous launch window opened at 4:32 p.m. EST, and the mission successfully launched soon after. 

The rocket's first-stage booster landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions that was in the Atlantic Ocean.

The first-stage booster B1058 has done some impressive missions, such as:

  • Demo-2
  • ANASIS-II
  • CRS-21
  • Transporter-1
  • Transporter-3
  • Nine Starlink launches

On Friday, the 45th Weather Squadron gave a 60% chance of good launch weather for Saturday, citing that the concern is the thick cloud layers rule.

On Thursday, the launch was given a 90% chance of good weather, but that was when it was originally scheduled for Friday.

Originally, the Starlink satellites were going to be launched on Friday, 18 minutes after the O3b mPOWER mission when it was sent off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

However, the Starlink launch was pushed back to Saturday and the O3b mPOWER was delayed twice before finally going up at around 5:48 p.m. EST.

But besides the O3b mPOWER launch, SpaceX also sent up the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite on Friday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission is to record the speed of growing sea levels and the change of coastlines on Earth.

About the mission

The Starlink satellites deliver internet access to most parts of the planet, stated the company that is operated by SpaceX.

Before Saturday’s launch, astronomer Jonathan McDowell of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics recorded the following information on the current Starlink satellites: 3,267 are in orbit, with 3,230 working and 3,008 are operational.

Watch the launch

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