On Monday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This was the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, and now nine Starlink missions.
The rescheduled launch was the 32nd Falcon 9 flight of 2024, and the 21st dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation. To date, SpaceX has lofted 6,100 Starlink satellites, 5,633 of which are currently operational, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.
UPDATE: April 1 – it’s no joke after three delays maybe a Starlink launch from California
SpaceX is targeting Monday, April 1 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 7:30 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 11:30 p.m. PT. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Tuesday, April 2 starting at 7:30 p.m. PT.
The rescheduled flight has a targeted liftoff on Monday evening, with additional chances to launch on Tuesday.
“SpaceX is targeting Monday, April 1 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 7:30 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 11:30 p.m. PT.,” SpaceX said.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This is the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, and eight Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
SpaceX’s second successful Saturday launch, first Eutelsat then Starlink and waiting for third
On Saturday, March 30 at 9:30 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This was the 18th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2 and now nine Starlink missions.
After this launch SpaceX intends to launch another batch of 22 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. That launch is targeting 11:54 p.m. ET. If all launches go, that would mean SpaceX sent three Falcon 9 rockets up into space in the span of hours on Saturday.
SpaceX enjoys two out of three in one day; two launches from Florida but California’s scrubbed
SpaceX successfully launched two Falcon 9 rockets from Florida Saturday. The company initially aimed for a tripleheader with a third SpaceX launch scheduled for California overnight but weather forced a scrub.
The launch was scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California during a four-hour window that opened at 10:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 p.m. California time; 0230 GMT on March 31). But SpaceX called that third mission off due to bad weather. A new target launch date has not yet been announced.
Update SpaceX is standing down from a Thursday night launch attempt and targeting no earlier than Friday, March 29 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 7:30 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 11:30 p.m. PT.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This is the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, and eight Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
Thursday SpaceX is set for 22 Starlink launch
SpaceX is targeting Thursday, March 28 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 7:30 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 11:24 p.m. PT. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Friday, March 29 starting at 7:30 p.m. PT.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This is the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, and eight Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
SpaceX Starlink launch on Thursday
SpaceX plans the launch of Starlink 7-18 from Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) on the West Coast on Thursday evening.
This will continue with the building up the 6,000-unit satellite constellation and its 2.6 million users worldwide.
This will be the 11th Falcon 9 launch in March. The first year that SpaceX reached double digits in launches was 2017 with 18 flights for the whole year while in contrast there is a possibility of 12 Falcon 9 launches this month if the rest of this week’s flights happen as scheduled. While SpaceX continues plans to reach its stated goal of 148 launches this year.
