Created 4-Mar-26
Modified 6-Mar-26
Visitors 1
19 photos
from spaceflightnow.com:
SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 rocket soaring from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a pre-dawn liftoff on Wednesday with a batch of Starlink internet satellites onboard.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 5:52:20 a.m. EST (1052:20 UTC). The rocket flew on a north-easterly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad.
The Starlink 10-40 mission added another 29 broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. This included the 600th Starlink satellite to be launched so far in 2026.
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 90 percent chance for favorable weather during the launch window, citing a small chance for interference from cumulus clouds. Meteorologists were also watching the booster recovery weather as a potential watch item.
SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1080. This was its 25th flight after previously launching two private astronaut missions for Axiom Space, NG-21 for Northrop Grumman, and CRS-30 for NASA, among others.
Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1080 landed on the drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, positioned in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. This was the 145th landing on this vessel and the 581st booster landing to date for SpaceX.
SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 rocket soaring from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a pre-dawn liftoff on Wednesday with a batch of Starlink internet satellites onboard.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 5:52:20 a.m. EST (1052:20 UTC). The rocket flew on a north-easterly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad.
The Starlink 10-40 mission added another 29 broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. This included the 600th Starlink satellite to be launched so far in 2026.
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 90 percent chance for favorable weather during the launch window, citing a small chance for interference from cumulus clouds. Meteorologists were also watching the booster recovery weather as a potential watch item.
SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1080. This was its 25th flight after previously launching two private astronaut missions for Axiom Space, NG-21 for Northrop Grumman, and CRS-30 for NASA, among others.
Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1080 landed on the drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, positioned in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. This was the 145th landing on this vessel and the 581st booster landing to date for SpaceX.
© Dennis Huff
