Starlink · SpaceX · Ars Technica
Tuesday’s launch was noteworthy for a couple of other reasons
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The timing of the launch shortly before sunrise also allowed skywatchers up the East Coast to catch a glimpse of the Falcon 9 as it rocketed northeast from Cape Canaveral.
Key facts
- SpaceX launched around 260 Starlink missions on Falcon 9 from Florida, but all future Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches from Florida will carry customer payloads
- Starship is sized to launch up to 60 Starlink Version 3 satellites, which are larger, heavier, and more powerful than the Starlink V2s flying on Falcon 9
- The Falcon 9 rocket has been SpaceX’s workhorse, routinely launching batches of satellites for the company’s Starlink network, primarily from launch pads at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
- The next one is scheduled for August 30, when a Falcon Heavy rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center with NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
Summary
SpaceX made Florida’s Space Coast home to the world’s busiest spaceport for a decade, but that will change this year. The Falcon 9 rocket has been SpaceX’s workhorse, routinely launching batches of satellites for the company’s Starlink network, primarily from launch pads at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A Falcon 9 launch early Tuesday was the last planned Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral until SpaceX begins flying Starship missions from Florida, according to Kiko Dontchev, the company’s vice president of launch. It wasn’t long ago when two launches per month was the norm, an indication how quickly SpaceX’s launch cadence has grown. “From here on, Starlink missions out of Florida will fly on Starship,” Dontchev wrote on X.