SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 vehicle carrying 60 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA at 1531 GMT on 24 October. The launch was the 15th flight of Starlink satellites and the 14th of fully operational ones. The launch vehicle’s reusable first stage – B1060 on its third flight – landed successfully on the drone ship ”Just Read The Instructions” about eight minutes after launch. The launch had been delayed by a few days due to an on-board monitoring camera issue on the upper stage of the rocket. SpaceX did not try to rescue the fairing halves from the air as the net of one of the recovery vessels (Ms Tree) had been damaged on the previous flight recovery attempt. However, a boat was used to recover the fairing halves from the Atlantic Ocean.
Mark Williamson contributed to this story.
15th Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites (14th of operational ones). Courtesy: SpaceX
