At 0942 GMT on 6 May a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida carrying 53 Starlink satellites. The payloads were successfully bulk deployed in to their deployment orbit in LEO at around an hour after launch. They will now undergo in-orbit testing as they raise themselves to the operational orbit at 540 km.
At approximately T+ 8 minutes 30 seconds the Falcon 9 first-stage successfully landed on the drone barge “A Shortfall of Gravitas” located downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. This marks the twelfth time this particular first-stage – known as B1058 – has been launched. Only the third first-stage to meet this mark.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifts-off into the morning darkness. Courtesy of SpaceX via YouTube.
Continuing its seemingly inexhaustible constellation deployment schedule, SpaceX has up to three further Starlink missions planned for this month. This includes a mission from the Western site at Vandenberg, California.
