SpaceX lights up Cape Canaveral with Starlink launch
SpaceX sent up another Starlink launch from Cape Canaveral on Sunday night.
A Falcon 9 carrying 23 of the internet Satellites lifted off at 8:52 p.m. from Canaveral’s Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 on a southerly trajectory lighting up the Florida coast.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/ChcZ89flRh
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 15, 2024
The first-stage booster flew its 12th mission and made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic.
This was the fourth launch from the Space Coast in 2024, all from Cape Canaveral so far. SpaceX has flown three of those while United Launch Alliance flew the debut mission of its new Vulcan Centaur.
This week’s Axiom Space flight to ISS marks 1st crewed launch of the year
SpaceX has Kennedy Space Center’s first launch of the year lined up for Wednesday evening. The Axiom Space Ax-3 mission with a crew of four flying on a Crew Dragon is also the first of what could be a banner year for crewed launches from the Space Coast with as many as six human spaceflight missions planned before the end of 2024.
SpaceX has including its California launches as many as 144 missions planned for the year. It’s already launched twice from Vandenberg Space Force Base in 2024 so Sunday’s Starlink mission marks its fifth of the year.