SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA at 0619 GMT on 19 May 2023. The vehicle was carrying Starlink Group 6-3, a total of 22 second generation Starlink satellites. The reusable B1076 first stage (on its 5th flight) successfully landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas located downrange n the Atlantic. The Group 6-3 uses the Starlink Block v2 Mini bus design with larger more powerful phased array antennas. Once they have raised themselves from the original dispensed orbit, the operational orbit for the Group 6 spacecraft is a 530 km circular orbit inclined at 43 degrees relative to the equator. The satellites also use E-band communications for backhaul (the part of a satellite network that serves as an intermediate between the main network and the small network) increasing the constellation’s capacity,
Jonathan Freeman contributed to this story.
Downrange landing plan for Falcon 9. Courtesy: SpaceX
