File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX launched another 29 satellites for its Starlink internet service just after sunrise on Friday at fog shrouded Cape Canaveral.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 7:16:10 a.m. EST (1216:10 UTC), but views of the launch were obscured by a thick blanket of fog.
After sending the second stage on its way with its stack of Starlink V2 Mini satellites, Falcon 9 first stage booster B1069, landed on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ stationed in the Atlantic east of The Bahamas.
It was the 30th flight for this booster, which entered the SpaceX fleet for the CRS-24 space station cargo flight in December 2021. B1069 was badly damaged during the landing on that inaugural mission and didn’t fly again until August 2022. Since that troubled start, it has made 25 Starlink delivery runs and also launched the Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13-F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19 missions.
Friday’s mission was be SpaceX’s 25th Falcon 9 launch of the year and the 607th Falcon 9 flight since the rocket was introduced in 2010.