Just days after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried the American-European Sentinel-6A oceanography satellite into orbit from the U.S. West Coast, SpaceX returned its focus to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida for Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s 100th launch.<\/p>\n
Liftoff of the Starlink V1.0 L15 mission (or the 16th flight of Starlink) on booster B1049 \u2014 marking the company\u2019s first-ever 7th flight of a Falcon 9 first stage \u2014 occurred at 21:13 EST on Tuesday, 24 November (02:13 UTC on 25 November).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A multi-milestone flight<\/p>\n
B1049 first launched in September 2018, lifting the Canadian Telstar 18 Vantage telecommunications satellite into a geostationary orbit. Just four months later, the booster was reused to complete the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation, launching the final ten satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.<\/p>\n
Since then, B1049 has been completely dedicated to building SpaceX\u2019s Starlink constellation, having launched starlink V0.9 in May 2019, SpaceX\u2019s first and only batch of 60 V0.9 Starlink test satellites.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hc0kVyhmut<\/p>\n
With the launch of Starlink V1.0 L15, B1049 has launched four batches of operational Starlink satellites and will have contributed 238 operational satellites to the constellation.<\/p>\n
Spaceflight news subscription (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n On B1049\u2019s previous flight, Starlink V1.0 L10, the stage set the record for having flown the most flights of any Falcon 9 booster (or orbital rocket booster) at six individual flights; on flight L15, it broke its own record.<\/p>\n The launch of Starlink V1.0 L15 also marked another milestone for the Falcon 9: its 100th flight \u2014 an accomplishment achieved in just 10 and a half years with a surge of 71 launches in the last three years alone and this year\u2019s commencement of human launch operations with Demo-2 in May and Crew-1 in November.<\/p>\n Starlink mission overview:<\/p>\n B1049 was rolled out and lifted into a vertical position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) on 19 November for a launch on 21 November.<\/p>\n Like most Falcon 9 missions, B1049 performed a static fire test, being held down at the launch pad and igniting its nine Merlin 1D engines for a few seconds to make sure all was in working order.<\/p>\n The test was originally scheduled for approximately 01:30 EST (06:30 UTC) on 20 November, although the firing was aborted due to high winds at the launch pad. The test proceeded successfully at approximately 16:00 EST (21:00 UTC) on 21 November, clearing the Falcon 9 for flight.<\/p>\n Just prior to the start of propellant loading on Sunday, 22 November, however, a hold was called due to \u201cmission assurance\u201d \u2014 pointing to an issue with the rocket.<\/p>\n An initial backup attempt was scheduled for the 23rd but was called off before countdown operations began due to unacceptable weather from a passing frontal system at the downrange recovery zone 635 km northeast of the Cape where the first stage would land on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You<\/em>.<\/p>\n Launch countdown operations included:<\/p>\n Liquid oxygen load into Stage 1 begins<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Falcon 9 pressurizes for flight<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n After a short vertical climb, Falcon 9 pitched over and head out on an azimuth \u2014 heading \u2014 to place itself into a 53 degree inclination orbit.<\/p>\n Once B1049 completed its 2 minute 32 second burn, the second stage separated and ignited its Merlin Vac engine, bringing the Starlink payload into orbit.<\/p>\n After stage separation, the first stage booster oriented itself for the three-engine Entry Burn to slow itself down and alter course more towards the drone ship. That burn completed at T+7 minutes 03 seconds.<\/p>\n A single-engine Landing Burn then slowed the booster and fine-tuned its trajectory towards the waiting Of Course I Still Love You<\/em> rocket-catching drone ship 634 km northeast of the launch pad (supported by GO Quest).<\/p>\n\n\n
\n Time until launch (L-)<\/b><\/td>\n Event<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n L-38 minutes<\/td>\n Electronic verification of \u201cGO\u201d for propellant load<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n L-35 minutes<\/td>\n RP-1 kerosene load into Stages 1 & 2 begins<\/p>\n \n L-17 minutes<\/td>\n RP-1 kerosene load into Stage 2 complete<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n L-16 minutes<\/td>\n Liquid oxygen load into Stage 2 begins<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n L-7 minutes<\/td>\n Stage 1 Merlin 1D engine chilldown begins<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n L-2 minutes 30 seconds<\/td>\n Falcon 9 fully fueled for flight<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n L-1 minute<\/td>\n Flight computer takes control<\/p>\n \n L-45 seconds<\/td>\n Flight Director verifies \u201cGO\u201d for launch<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n L-3 seconds<\/td>\n Stage 1 engine ignitions commanded<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n L-0<\/td>\n Liftoff<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n