SpaceX simply tied considered one of its launch-cadence data.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at this time at 3:24 p.m. EDT (1924 GMT; 12:24 p.m. native California time).
It was the 132nd Falcon 9 liftoff of the yr, equaling the mark set by the rocket last year — and there are nonetheless almost 2.5 months to go in 2025.
The Falcon 9’s first stage got here again to Earth as deliberate at this time about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, touchdown within the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship “Of Course I Nonetheless Love You.”
It was the 11th launch and touchdown for this particular booster, which carries the designation 1088.
Previous Booster 1088 missions
The rocket’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued hauling the 28 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, the place they’re going to be deployed about 60 minutes after launch. They’re going to be part of more than 8,600 lively satellites within the Starlink megaconstellation, by far the biggest community of spacecraft ever assembled.
This launch was the second of the day for SpaceX; lower than two hours earlier, one other Falcon 9 despatched 28 extra Starlink satellites up from Florida’s Area Coast. That earlier liftoff was the thirty first for that Falcon 9’s first stage, setting a new reuse record. And it additionally included the ten,000th Starlink satellite tv for pc ever to achieve orbit.
Editor’s word: This launch was initially focused for Saturday (Oct. 18). If that concentrate on had held, the mission would have lofted the ten,000th Starlink satellite tv for pc thus far, a milestone that the unique model of this story highlighted. However the goal date was pushed again, and this story was up to date at 11:25 a.m. ET on Oct. 18 to mirror that change. It was up to date once more at 3:35 p.m. ET on Oct. 19 with information of profitable launch and rocket touchdown.
