Update June 8, 11:30 a.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed deployment of the 26 Starlink satellites.
SpaceX launched its 70th Falcon 9 rocket launch of the year on Sunday morning. Onboard were 26 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, which will be deployed into low Earth orbit.
Liftoff of the Starlink 15-8 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base occurred at 7:20 a.m. PDT (10:20 a.m. EDT, 1420 UTC).
SpaceX used the Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1088, to launch this mission, which flew for a seventh time. Its previous missions include NASA’s SPHEREx, Transporter-12 and two mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, it landed on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This was the 135th landing on this vessel and the 459th booster landing to date.
