A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 7, 2024. The mission, Starlink 10-1, marked the first deployment of Starlink satellites to this particular shell of the mega constellation. Image: Spaceflight Now
Following its fourth test flight of the massive Starship rocket in southern Texas, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Friday night flight marked the 344th Falcon 9 launch, just over 14 years after the rocket's debut on June 4, 2010.
The Starlink 10-1 mission added 22 satellites to the extensive constellation, now comprising over 6,000 active satellites in low Earth orbit, according to expert orbital tracker and astronomer Jonathan McDowell. Liftoff from pad 40 occurred at 9:56 p.m. EDT (0156 UTC).
The first stage booster for this mission, tail number B1069, launched for the 16th time, previously supporting the launch of SpaceX’s 24th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (CRS-24), Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13F satellite, and 11 prior batches of Starlink satellites.
About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1069 landed on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ This marked the 74th landing of a booster on ASOG and the 317th booster landing overall. Excluding the Falcon Heavy side boosters, it was also the 301st booster landing from a Falcon 9 rocket.
The mission occurred about a day and a half after significant progress with SpaceX's Starship program. Flight 4 further validated the technology within the rocket and SpaceX’s Starlink network.
“Starlink on Starship once again enabled real-time telemetry and live high-definition video throughout every phase of entry, with external cameras providing views all the way to the flight’s conclusion,” SpaceX reported.
During the ascent and coast phase of the Ship 29 upper stage, SpaceX showcased views with a watermark reading “Views by Starlink.” This allowed viewers to witness the rocket pass through peak heating, with the reddish-pink plasma turning stark purple.
Continuous views of the Starship's forward flap, which nearly detached but held on, allowed for a controlled splashdown and sparked a flurry of memes on social media ranging from “Terminator 2” to “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.”
“From South Texas to the other side of the Earth, Starship is in the water. Whew, what a day,” said SpaceX’s Dan Huot during the launch livestream. “That was absolutely incredible. We got views pretty much the whole way down. Analysis said we could do it, we weren’t sure if it was going to be able to happen. But Starlink powered through and we were able to get that signal.”
“We started to get some debris on the cameras and everything, but we were able to see it.”
Starlink will undergo another key technology demonstration later this summer when the four-member crew of the Polaris Dawn mission, led by businessman Jared Isaacman, performs an on-orbit communications test.
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