Update 8:32 p.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed successful deployment of the Starlink satellites.
SpaceX launched the Starlink 11-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites onboard on Monday afternoon, following a one-day delay.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened Monday, April 28 at 1:42 p.m. PDT (4:42 p.m. EDT, 2042 UTC).
The Falcon 9 first stage booster being used on this mission, tail number B1063 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for a 25th time. Its previous missions include 16 batches of Starlink satellites, three flights for the National Reconnaissance Office and NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft.
B1063 is the second most flown booster for SpaceX, currently tied with B1071 at 24 trips to space and back. The Falcon booster flight leader remains B1067, which has flown 27 times, most recently on April 14 on the Starlink 6-73 mission.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1063 landed on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. This marked the 127th booster landing on OCISLY and the 437th booster landing to date.
