A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully deployed 23 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from Florida on the evening of October 21st. This marked the company’s second mission of the day. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at precisely 10:17 p.m. EDT (or 0217 GMT on October 22).
The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth for a vertical landing tonight, touching down about 8.5 minutes after launch on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
This marked the fourth flight for the first stage of the rocket, as described in the mission details. The 23 Starlink satellites were set to be released from the Falcon 9’s upper stage approximately 65.5 minutes after the launch. A SpaceX Falcon
This evening’s launch represented SpaceX’s second mission of the day. Earlier in the morning, the company had launched 21 Starlink satellites from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. Starlink, which is SpaceX’s expansive satellite constellation operating in low Earth orbit, offers internet service to users worldwide. The constellation comprises nearly 4,900 operational Starlink satellites, with the network steadily expanding.
Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Merlin engines use RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle. The Merlin engine was originally designed for recovery and reuse.