At 1543 GMT on 19 January a SpaceX Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket conducted its first Starlink mission of 2023. The rocket lifted-off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, carrying 51 communications satellites into LEO (low Earth orbit) as the Group 2-4. The first-stage, identified as B1075, successfully completed its first mission by landing on the drone barge “Of Course I Still Love You” downrange in the Pacific Ocean at approximately T+ 8 minutes 40 seconds. The satellites, in being in Group 2 were sent into a 70 degree inclination orbit whose eventual operating altitude once they have raised themselves will be 570 km.
Matt Wilson contributed to this story.
View from the rocket: Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 launches from Vandenberg on 19 January 2023. Courtesy: SpaceX
