Home»Launches»Starlink 5-4 (Falcon 9) February 12, 2023
Created 13-Feb-23
Modified 13-Dec-23
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excerpts from spaceflightnow.com...
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket hauled 55 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit just after midnight Sunday from Cape Canaveral, breaking a record for the shortest time between missions — five days — from the same SpaceX launch pad.
Liftoff of the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred at 12:10:10 a.m. EST (0510:10 GMT) Sunday, defying a poor weather forecast to get off the ground before rain showers and brisk winds moved through the spaceport with the passage of a frontal boundary.
After liftoff, the Falcon 9 rocket vectored its 1.7 million pounds of thrust — produced by nine Merlin engines — to steer southeast over the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX has resumed launches this winter using the southeasterly corridor from Cape Canaveral, rather than trajectories to the northeast, to take advantage of better sea conditions for landing of the Falcon 9’s first stage booster.
Throughout the summer and fall, SpaceX launched Starlink missions on paths toward the northeast from Florida’s Space Coast.
The Falcon 9 rocket exceeded the speed of sound in about one minute, then shut down its nine main engines two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. The booster stage separated from the Falcon 9’s upper stage, then fired pulses from cold gas control thrusters and extended titanium grid fins to help steer the vehicle back into the atmosphere.
Two braking burns slowed the rocket for landing on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” around 410 miles (660 kilometers) downrange approximately eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. The reusable booster, designated B1062 in SpaceX’s inventory, completed its 12th trip to space Sunday.
