SpaceX sends 24 Starlink satellites into orbit during Sunday launch from Cape Canaveral

Rick Neale, Florida Today
Updated ·2 min read

After a one-day delay, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, lifting a series of 24 Starlink internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit.

That's one more than SpaceX's typical 23-satellite-per-rocket Starlink payload.

"This mission is carrying one additional @Starlink satellite from previous east coast missions thanks in part to performance increases on Falcon 9," SpaceX officials tweeted at 5:16 p.m. EST Sunday, 10 minutes after the rocket soared off the pad under cloudless blue skies.

The Falcon 9 first-stage booster landed aboard SpaceX's drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas out on the Atlantic Ocean, completing its 13th mission.

The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron had pegged the odds of "go for launch" weather at greater than 95%. The forecast held true: At 4:55 p.m., the National Weather Service reported fair skies, a temperature of 65, northeast wind of 8 mph and 10-mile visibility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Starlink 6-39 mission was initially scheduled for liftoff Saturday afternoon, but it got postponed roughly 24 hours instead. SpaceX did not publicly release details as to why the launch got scrubbed.

People on the beach in Cape Canaveral watch Sunday's launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 6-39 mission from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
People on the beach in Cape Canaveral watch Sunday's launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 6-39 mission from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Sunday's Falcon 9 liftoff occurred roughly three hours after NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts arrived at Kennedy Space Center and greeted media. Crew-8 will launch inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour capsule atop a Falcon 9 at 12:04 a.m. Friday from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

A Falcon 9 logged its 300th successful lifetime mission Tuesday with SpaceX's Merah Putih 2 liftoff for the Indonesian satellite communications provider Telkomsat from Launch Complex 40.

For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

The 5:06 p.m. EST SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to deploy a batch of 24 Starlink internet satellites.
The 5:06 p.m. EST SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to deploy a batch of 24 Starlink internet satellites.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Falcon 9 sends 24 Starlink satellites into orbit Sunday