SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Friday.
The Starlink 17-6 mission will add another 24 satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation. With a successful completion of this mission, SpaceX will have launched more than 1,800 of its Starlink satellites in 2025 alone. In a social media post, SpaceX confirmed deployment of the satellites a little over an hour after launch.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East occurred at 10:04 a.m. PDT (1:04 p.m. EDT / 1704 UTC). It will be the 27th Starlink launch from Vandenberg this year.
SpaceX used the Falcon 9 first stage booster tail number B1081 to launch this mission, its 17th flight. Its previous launches included NASA’s PACE, NASA’s TRACERS and Crew-7.
Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1081 landed on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This was the 146th booster landing on that vessel and the 491st booster landing to date.
