{"id":9557,"date":"2026-05-21T00:11:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacexs-sunrise-starlink-launch-adds-29-satellites-to-low-earth-orbit-megaconstellation\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T00:11:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:11:24","slug":"spacexs-sunrise-starlink-launch-adds-29-satellites-to-low-earth-orbit-megaconstellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacexs-sunrise-starlink-launch-adds-29-satellites-to-low-earth-orbit-megaconstellation\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX\u2019s sunrise Starlink launch adds 29 satellites to low Earth orbit megaconstellation"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_73437\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73437\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-73437\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260521_Starlink_10-31_liftoff_MC-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260521_Starlink_10-31_liftoff_MC-1.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260521_Starlink_10-31_liftoff_MC-1-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-73437\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortly after stage separation on SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket, the payload fairing halves that encapsulated the 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites separated, creating a so-called \u2018jellyfish effect\u2019 during the Starlink 10-31 mission on May 21, 2026. Image: Michael Cain\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em><strong>Update May 21, 7:36 a.m. EDT (1136 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 29 Starlink satellites.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>SpaceX launched a batch Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station about 20 minutes before sunrise Thursday morning. The morning lighting illuminated the plume of the rocket in a so-called \u2018jellyfish effect\u2019 for those viewing the launch from the East Coast of the United States.<\/p>\n<p>The Starlink 10-31 mission added another 29 broadband internet satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation that consists of more than 10,000 spacecraft. This was the 46th mission supporting SpaceX\u2019s Starlink program.<\/p>\n<p>Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 6:04 a.m. EDT (1004 UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a north-easterly trajectory.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-ojhyy73s-s?si=vo-WoHUj31RfU4Or\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 90 percent chance for favorable conditions at liftoff. Meteorologists said they\u2019re tracking a small chance for interference from cumulus clouds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA slow-moving disturbance over the Bahamas is helping supply this moisture and may also generate some convection in the early morning hours,\u201d launch weather officers said. \u201cThese showers and associated clouds will be our main concern for violation of weather constraints on both the main and backup windows with focus on the Cumulus Cloud Rule.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_73439\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73439\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-73439\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260521_Starlink_10-31_liftoff_JP-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260521_Starlink_10-31_liftoff_JP-1.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260521_Starlink_10-31_liftoff_JP-1-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-73439\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 10-31 mission on May 21, 2026. Image: John Pisani\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1077. This was its 28th flight following missions, like NASA\u2019s Crew-5, CRS-28, and NG-20.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1077 landed on the drone ship, \u2018A Shortfall of Gravitas.\u2019 This marked the 150th landing on this vessels and the 613th booster landing to date.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_73438\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73438\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-73438\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260521_Starlink_10-31_liftoff_AB-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260521_Starlink_10-31_liftoff_AB-1.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260521_Starlink_10-31_liftoff_AB-1-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-73438\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 10-31 mission on May 21, 2026. Image: Adam Bernstein\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shortly after stage separation on SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket, the payload fairing halves that encapsulated the 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites separated, creating a so-called \u2018jellyfish effect\u2019 during the Starlink 10-31 mission on May 21, 2026. Image: Michael Cain\/Spaceflight Now Update May 21, 7:36 a.m. EDT (1136 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 29 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[673,692,479,675,676,316,440,740],"class_list":["post-9557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-asog","tag-b1077","tag-falcon-9","tag-slc-40","tag-sld-45","tag-spacex","tag-starlink","tag-starlink-10-31"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9557"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}