Update 5:24 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the Starlink 8-9 mission and landed the booster, B1073, on the droneship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’

SpaceX launched a batch of Starlink satellites using a booster that ran into technical issues during the final seconds of its last launch attempt. The launch was the first of the month for the company, which is aiming for an average of 12 Falcon flights per month in 2024.

Liftoff of the Starlink 8-9 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 UTC). It added another 20 Starlink satellites to the growing megaconstellation.

Coming into the launch attempt, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast an 80 percent chance of favorable weather during the roughly four-hour launch window. The only potential concern was the presence of cumulus clouds in the area near the pad.

The first stage booster supporting this mission, B1073 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for a 16th time. It previously launched ispace’s HAKUTO-R lunar lander, SpaceX’s 27th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-27) mission and 10 Starlink missions.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1073 touched down on the SpaceX droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ This will be the 76th landing on ASOG and the 327th booster landing to date.

While the last launch of B1073 was the Starlink 6-58 mission on May 13, 2024, its last launch attempt was on June 14 when it attempted to launch the Starlink 10-2 mission. It was stymied over the course of three launch attempts in as many days, culminating in an abort as the Merlin engines began firing prior to liftoff.

The following day, Kiko Dontchev, the SpaceX vice president of launch, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the booster experienced “a real issue,” which required them “to go inspect the hardware in detail.” He also noted that the problem created the first week without a Falcon launch “in a long time.”

Here are moments leading up to engine ignition and the ultimate abort of the Starlink 10-2 at the moment of T-0.

Watch: pic.twitter.com/a8wVmKFr9x

— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) June 14, 2024

That quiet stretch ended up lasting from June 8 to June 18 when SpaceX launched the Starlink 9-1 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, marking the first successive SpaceX launches from Vandenberg without a flight from Florida in the middle.

Despite the setback, SpaceX still launched 10 Falcon rockets in June, including the Falcon Heavy which carried the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-U satellite on June 25.

“We only launched 10 times in June, but Q2 as a whole saw 36 successful flights,” Dontchev wrote on X. “All of our goals are still very much within reach as long we keep safety and reliability first.”

SpaceX entered the year with the goal of hitting 144 launches or more by the end of the year. With June now in the rearview mirror, here’s where they currently stand for Falcon flights:

• January – 10
• February – 9
• March – 12
• April – 12
• May – 14
• June – 10

If SpaceX kept the same overall pace through the back end of the year, it would achieve 134 launches with its Falcon rockets (Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy).

We haven’t landed on Mars yet, but this picture makes it feel like we’re getting close

Our 67th and final launch of the month. We only launched 10 times in June, but Q2 as a whole saw 36 successful flights. All of our goals are still very much within reach as long we keep safety… https://t.co/XMZKxWTiZC

— Kiko Dontchev (@TurkeyBeaver) June 29, 2024

Starlink expansion

The Wednesday morning launch continued to bolster the ever expanding Starlink megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. The Starlink 8-9 mission will be the 49th dedicated mission launching these satellites in 2024 and the 111th launch over the V2 Mini version of Starlink to date.

Among the 20 satellites launching are 13 that feature the Direct to Cell capability. This launch will put the DTC Starlink total at 103. Following the last launch with DTC Starlink satellites onboard, Sara Spangelo, the senior director of SpaceX, expressed her excitement on X at reaching the 90-satellite mark.

“Thrilled with how quickly we’re deploying and how soon we will be able to serve customers with ubiquitous connectivity directly to their phones!” Spangelo wrote.

The Starlink division of the company also welcomed Madagascar to its internet coverage. Michael Nicolls, the vice president of Starlink engineering, said this was the 101st market for the satellite internet provider.

Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency internet is now available in Madagascar! → https://t.co/7eyKGH8SZu pic.twitter.com/AEm2Z26s5d

— Starlink (@Starlink) June 27, 2024

SpaceX launched a national security mission on behalf of the United States’ National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday night. The spy agency described the classified mission as “the second launch of NRO’s proliferated architecture, delivering critical space-based ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) to the nation.”

The Falcon 9 rocket supporting this mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the opening of a two-hour window, 8:14 p.m. PDT (11:14 p.m. EDT, 0314 UTC).

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1081 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for an eighth time. Its previous missions included the launches of the Crew-7 astronaut mission to the International Space Station, two climate monitoring satellites (NASA’s PACE and the European Space Agency’s EarthCARE) and two Starlink flights.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1081 landed on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This was the 95th booster landing for OCISLY and the 326th booster landing to date.

Proliferated architecture grows

This mission was the second launch of the NRO’s so-called “proliferated architecture,” following the launch of the NROL-146 mission in May. Reporting from Reuters earlier this year suggested that these satellites are based on the SpaceX-built Starshield satellite bus in partnership with Northrop Grumman.

In a statement to Spaceflight Now, the NRO said:

“NRO systems are designed, built and operated by the NRO. As a matter of national security we do not discuss the companies associated with the building of our systems, our contractual relationships with them, their specific activities, or the locations where NRO systems are built.”

The agency also declined to confirm how many satellites are on these missions as well as their orbit. In a speech before this year’s Space Symposium in Colorado, Dr. Troy Meink, the principal deputy director of the NRO, said there would be “approximately half a dozen of these launches” this year.

These mission were not procured as part of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 task order. That’s because the NRO needed these missions to move forward prior to the Phase 3 task order missions being assigned.

“The NRO is partnered with USSF Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space Team in the acquisition of Phase 3 and influenced the development of Phase 3, Lane 1 – as a means of procuring flexible launch solutions with tailorable mission assurance,” an NRO spokesperson said in a statement. ” When considering our launch cadence and need for tailorable mission assurance, the NRO recognized that we needed a bridge between Phase 2 to Phase 3 – Lane 1. This resulted in some missions being procured outside of NSSL. NSSL has, and will continue to be, the NRO’s principal mechanism to procure launch services.”

Update 8:00 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the Starlink 10-3 mission.

SpaceX is marking two key records with the launch of its latest batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Starlink 10-3 mission was SpaceX’s 350th Falcon 9 rocket launch.

The first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1062 in the SpaceX fleet, also launched for a 22nd time, making it the flight leader among the Falcon fleet. Liftoff of the mission happened at 7:14 a.m. EDT (1114 UTC).

Among its previous 21 launches, B1062 launched two GPS satellites, two crews of astronauts (Inspiration4 and Ax-1) and 14 Starlink missions.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1062 will land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ If successful, this will be the 85th landing on JRTI and the 325th booster landing to date.

The launch of 23 more Starlink satellites comes just two days after SpaceX launched the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-U weather satellite. The mission launched on the company’s tenth Falcon Heavy rocket.

SpaceX was also just announced as at the recipient of a contract valued at up to $843 million to “develop and deliver the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle that will provide the capability to deorbit the space station and ensure avoidance of risk to populated areas.”

“Selecting a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations. This decision also supports NASA’s plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in a statement. “The orbital laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration, and partnerships in space for the benefit of all.”

The orbiting outpost has a planned operational end of life date of 2030 as new commercial space stations come online. NASA stated that the launch contract for this mission will be awarded at a later date.

SpaceX completed another double launch day with a West Coast launch of 20 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, including 13 featuring Direct to Cell capabilities.

Liftoff of the Starlink 9-2 mission happened at 8:47 p.m. PDT (11:47 p.m. EDT, 0347 UTC). It came following the launch of 22 Starlink satellites from Florida at 1:15 p.m. EDT (1715 UTC) on Sunday.

The first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1075 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for an 11th time. It previously supported the launches of the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 0 demonstration satellite mission, German military reconnaissance satellites SARah 2 & 3 and eight Starlink flights.

The last time this booster was flown was nearly 100 days ago on the Starlink 7-16 mission on March 19.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1075 landed on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This will be the 94th landing on OCISLY and the 322nd booster landing to date.

The mission comes as SpaceX and NASA are preparing to launch a Falcon Heavy rocket on the GOES-U mission, the final satellite in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R (GOES-R) series. Rollout of the rocket to the launchpad at Launch Complex 39A was delayed from Sunday morning.

Teams are keeping a close eye on weather conditions for both rollout and launch operations. The mission is currently targeting liftoff on Tuesday, June 25, at 5:16 p.m. EDT (2116 UTC).

As of the latest weather forecast issued on Sunday, June 23, there is only a 30 percent chance of favorable weather at liftoff on both the primary launch day and the 24-hour backup, on June 26.

Watch Falcon Heavy pad views here:

SpaceX completed the launch of its first Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in more than two weeks on Saturday. The last time the company attempted to launch the Starlink 10-2 mission, it encountered a rare scrub as the Falcon 9’s first stage Merlin engines began firing.

Liftoff of the rescheduled flight happened at 1:15 p.m. EDT (1715 UTC), the opening of a nearly four-hour window, from Space Launch Complex 40. The mission also marked the first time SpaceX launched one of its payload fairings for a 20th time.

Activity in the tropics creates some uncertainty for the launch from a meteorological perspective, but proved to not be prohibiting to launch. On Saturday, June 22, the 45th Weather Squadron issued a launch weather forecast that suggests just 50 percent odds of favorable launch weather at the opening of the launch window.

Heading into the start of fueling, SpaceX stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the weather improved to 70 percent favorable for launch.

“Deep tropical moisture will remain entrenched across the Florida peninsula into early next week, and as a result, scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms can be expected each day, largely favoring the afternoon and evening hours,” the forecast stated.

“While atmospheric flow will remain weak enough to allow daily seabreeze development, an incoming trough will likely result in delayed formation and westward progression by Monday and Tuesday, with initial storm development closer to the coast on those days.”

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, B1078, launched for an 11th time. It previously launched the astronauts and cosmonaut of the Crew-6 mission, the USSF-124 mission and seven previous Starlink flights.

Fairing separation confirmed. Today’s mission marks our first 20th flight of a fairing half! pic.twitter.com/dV7zZEhwU4

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 23, 2024

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1078 landed on the SpaceX droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ This was the 75th booster landing for ASOG and the 321st booster landing to date.

However, B1078 wasn’t always the intended booster for this mission though. The original flight plan had B1073 as the first stage booster. However, the booster was swapped out following a last-second scrub on June 14.

SpaceX hasn’t elaborated on the issue or issues that caused the scrub during engine ignition, but in a June 15 post on X (formerly Twitter), Kiko Dontchev, the vice president of Launch at SpaceX said: “Tough week dealing with production challenges and then a rare scrub at engine startup yesterday on 10-2. “Unfortunately there is a real issue so we need to go inspect the hardware in detail on this vehicle… Painful, but safety and reliability are the priority.”

Here are moments leading up to engine ignition and the ultimate abort of the Starlink 10-2 at the moment of T-0.

Watch: pic.twitter.com/a8wVmKFr9x

— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) June 14, 2024

This was the 45th launch of Starlink satellites so far in 2024 with another planned for Sunday evening, which is set to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 8:45 p.m. PDT (11:45 p.m. EDT, 0345 UTC).

Starlink 10-2 added another 22 satellites to the growing megaconstellation. With this launch, SpaceX has launched 1,007 Starlink satellites this year alone.

According to expert orbital tracker and astronomer, Jonathan McDowell, there are more than 6,000 active Starlink satellites on orbit.

Falcon Heavy prepares to fly again

While SpaceX is preparing to launch a pair of Falcon 9 rockets on both sides of the country, in Florida, it’s also working with NASA and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to launch a new weather satellite on June 25 at 5:16 p.m. EDT (2116 UTC).

NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) contracted SpaceX to launch the final satellite in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R (GOES-R) series. NOAA describes these as “the Western Hemisphere’s most sophisticated weather-observing and environmental-monitoring system.”

In an interview with Spaceflight Now on Friday NASA’s launch director, Dr. Denton Gibson, said the launch team will be monitoring the weather over the next few days.

“We have some planning to do or decisions to make in terms of when we roll the vehicle out and before we do all of our final preps for launch,” Gibson said.

NASA and SpaceX are preparing to launch a Falcon Heavy rocket in support of the NASA/NOAA GOES-U weather satellite mission. On Friday, we spoke with Dr. Denton Gibson, the @NASA_LSP Launch Director about what he and his team will be doing between now and the planned launch day on… pic.twitter.com/RCVV2ecFHi

— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) June 22, 2024

He said they would make a determination on whether a rollout of the Falcon Heavy rocket from the hangar to the pad would make more sense on Sunday or Monday.

The Falcon Heavy has a backup launch date of June 26, but if it slips beyond that, Gibson said there would need to be discussions with the Eastern Range before a new date could be booked.

Watch live views of the Falcon Heavy launch pad.

Update 12:09 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launches the Starlink 9-1 mission.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday evening, following the scrub of a planned mission for satellite communications company, SES, from Florida. SpaceX sent another batch of its Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, which included another 13 with direct to cell (DTC) capabilities.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California happened at 8:40 p.m. PDT (11:40 p.m. EDT, 0340 UTC). This marked the 20th orbital launch from California in 2024 so far.

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1082 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for a fifth time. It previously supported the launches of the United States Space Force-62 (USSF-62) mission and three Starlink flights.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1082 is set to land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ It marked the 93rd booster landing on OCISLY and the 319th overall booster landing.

Despite an unusually long period without launches (between June 8 and June 18), SpaceX is still confident that it will hit or exceed its orbital launch goals this year.

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Jon Edwards, SpaceX’s vice president of Falcon Launch Vehicles, said “We still have a good shot at 148. In fact, we may even try to do a few more this year.”

Update 6:53 p.m. EDT: SpaceX deployed the Astra 1P satellite.

The third time turned out to be the charm for SpaceX as it was able to launch the Astra 1P satellite to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on behalf of one of its oldest customers: Luxembourg-based SES. The mission came after two weather-related launch scrubs in a many days.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:35 p.m. EDT (2135 UTC) on Thursday, June 20.

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1080 in the SpaceX fleet launched for a ninth time. It previously supported the launches of two private astronaut missions for Axiom Space (Ax-2 and Ax-3), the European Space Agency’s Euclid observatory and four Starlink missions.

About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1080 landed on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ This made the 84th booster landing for JRTI.

The launch snapped a rare stretch of almost 13 days without a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral, although two launches have occurred from the company’s West Coast launch pad at Vandenberg in that time.

Following the last-second abort the Starlink 10-2 launch attempt on Friday, Kiko Dontchev, the Vice President of Launch at SpaceX, wrote on X (formerly Twitter)”: “This will be the first week we’ve gone without a Falcon Launch in a long time. Unplanned downtime due to weather or unexpected issues happens, it’s how we respond that matters. The launch business takes grit and when things go wrong, our true form comes to life. Bring it on!!!”

Welcome back, SES

Onboard the SpaceX’s 62nd Falcon 9 launch of 2024 was the Astra 1P satellite, which is also referred to as SES-24. The Luxembourg-based telecommunications company is a long-time customer of SpaceX’s launch services.

In fact, the first payload that a Falcon 9 launched to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) was SES-8 on Dec. 3, 2013 on the seventh of the rocket.

The Astra 1P satellite continues a legacy of television satellites in the Astra 19.2°E group that goes back to Astra 1A, which launched in 1988. There are currently four satellites in use within this orbital position: Astra 1KR, Astra 1L, Astra 1M and Astra 1N.

Astra 1KR and Astra 1L were manufactured by Lockheed Martin, while Astra 1M and Astra 1N were built by Astrium (now Airbus Defene and Space). In 2021, SES contracted Thales Alenia Space to manufacture Astra 1P and Astra 1Q.

Both Astra 1P and Astra 1Q will feature direct-to-home (DTH) functionality, but the latter will also be “customizable on orbit and can be deployed easily to other orbital positions.”

“Our prime TV neighborhood at 19.2°E is one of our most valuable assets and has been key to enabling renowned European broadcasters to grow their TV audiences in the last 30 years. These two satellites will have the resiliency, reliability and redundancy that our video customers need, and will be able to deliver continued premium services well into 2040,” said Steve Collar, the former CEO of SES, in a 2021 statement. “Additionally, thanks to advanced satellite technology, we will be future-proofing our investment and injecting a high degree of flexibility into ASTRA 1Q to ensure we are meeting the evolving needs of all the markets we serve.”

ASTRA 1P is our 12th dedicated mission with @SES_Satellites, having first launched SES-8 in 2013, followed by the first reflight of Falcon 9 during SES-10, and most recently, the third O3B mPOWER mission last year pic.twitter.com/YS6OjUrTNf

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 19, 2024

Prior to launch, in a recorded statement, Adel Al-Saleh, the current CEO of SES, said Astra 1P is designed to replace the four satellites currently stationed at the 19.2°E position.

“This satellite will serve some of our largest media customers, like Sky, Canal+, Telefónica and RTL to deliver the valued, high quality content to their customers,” Al-Saleh said. “And it will also address the growing demand of sports and events, so that customers, like the NFL and various football leagues, can easily distribute their content across Europe.”

Update 5:40 p.m. EDT: SpaceX aborted the mission as the Falcon 9’s engines began to fire.

SpaceX struck out for a third time in as many days attempting to launch the Starlink 10-2 mission. After pushing back the launch time a few times within their window of availability on Friday, an abort was called just as the Merlin engines at the base of the 70-meter-tall (299 feet) rocket ignited.

In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX said that it was “Standing down from today’s Falcon 9 launch,” adding that its “new target launch date will be shared once available.” The company made no mention of what may have led to the scrub.

Prior to the Friday night scrub, the most recent instance of a Falcon 9 aborting a mission at the moment of engine ignition was back on Oct. 3, 2020, when SpaceX was attempting to launch a GPS satellite.

The mission abort came after two previous and unsuccessful attempts to launch the mission. Their first launch attempt on Wednesday was called off for reasons that SpaceX didn’t clarify. That was followed by an evening of persistently poor weather, which caused SpaceX to stand down from a Thursday night Falcon 9 launch.

Central and southern Florida have been hammered by rounds of thunderstorms and heavy tropical downpours expected to last several days.

Assuming SpaceX doesn’t shift its launch calendar order following this scrub, the Starlink 10-2 mission will be the 61st Falcon 9 flight for the company in 2024, which will tie the total number of orbital launches it achieved in all of 2022.

Heading into the Friday launch opportunity, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast a roughly 30 percent chance of favorable weather at the start of the launch window, which was set to improve to 70 percent favorable by the end.

Meteorologists expressed concerns about anvil clouds and cumulus clouds, which factor into the possibility of the rocket generating lightning if it were to launch in suboptimal conditions.

When the mission moves ahead, the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting Starlink 10-2, B1073 in the SpaceX fleet, will launch for a 16th time. It previously supported the launches of ispace’s HAKUTO-R lunar lander, the Bandwagon-1 rideshare mission and 10 previous Starlink missions.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1073 will land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ This will be the 84th landing on this droneship and the 319th booster landing to date.

The mission comes at a busy time for SpaceX and NASA. This week, the two along with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other federal agencies hosted a series of in-person meetings to inform the public about and take feedback regarding the proposal for SpaceX to launch Starship missions from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX also recently sent off the last two tower segments along with the chopstick arms for its second Starship tower for its Starbase facility in southern Texas.

SpaceX kicked off the weekend with the launch of another batch of its Starlink satellites. The mission, dubbed Starlink 8-8, added 20 more satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation, including 13 that have Direct to Cell capabilities.

Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base happened 5:58 a.m. PDT (8:58 a.m. EDT, 1258 UTC). The launch came less than 12 hours after SpaceX launched 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and roughly 48 hours after launching the fourth flight of its Starship rocket from southern Texas.

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1061 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for a 21st time, tying B1062 as the company’s flight leaders. B1061 previously launched two quartets of astronauts (Crew-1 and Crew-2), two multi-satellite rideshare missions (Transporter-4 and Transporter-5) as well as nine previous Starlink missions.

A little more than minutes after liftoff, B1061 landed on SpaceX’s droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ It marked the 92nd landing on OCISLY and the 318th booster landing to date.

On June 1, Michael Nicolls, SpaceX’s vice president of Starlink Engineering, noted that the 11 Starlink launches in May included 26 Direct to Cell Starlink satellites which presented “over 8 percent of the sats needed for initial direct-to-cell service.”

Thrilled to be growing our @Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, we have now launched 64 sats, launching every few days! Excited to be offering commercial services with @TMobile this Fall in the US, offering ubiquitous coverage and peace of mind wherever you may work or play. https://t.co/zqkEsqiPIG

— Sara Spangelo (@sara_spangelo) June 8, 2024

Update 8:57 p.m. EDT: SpaceX adjusted the T-0 liftoff time.

SpaceX followed up its fourth test flight of its massive Starship rocket in southern Texas with a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Friday night flight marked the 344th Falcon 9 to launch, a little more than 14 years after its launch debut on June 4, 2010.

The Starlink 10-1 mission added another 22 satellites to the massive constellation consisting of more than 6,000 active satellites in low Earth orbit, according to expert orbital tracker and astronomer, Jonathan McDowell. Liftoff from pad 40 happened at 9:56 p.m. EDT (0156 UTC).

The first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1069 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for a 16th time. It previously supported the launch of SpaceX’s 24th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (CRS-24), Eutelsat’s Hotbed 18F satellite and 11 previous batches of Starlink satellites.

About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1069 will land on the SpaceX booster, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ This was the 74th landing of a booster on ASOG and the 317th booster landing to date. If you set the landings of the Falcon Heavy side booster aside, this was also the 301st booster landing from a Falcon 9 rocket.

The mission comes about a day and a half after the company made marked strides forward with its Starship program. Flight 4 was not only an opportunity to further validate the technology within the rocket, but also SpaceX’s Starlink network.

“Starlink on Starship once again enabled real-time telemetry and live high-definition video throughout every phase of entry, with external cameras providing views all the way to the flight’s conclusion,” SpaceX wrote on its website following the mission.

Peaking heating. Starship on a good entry trajectory pic.twitter.com/H0Gv6hyvt2

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024

During the ascent and coast phase of the Ship 29 upper stage, SpaceX advertised the views with a watermark reading “Views by Starlink.” It allowed viewers to witness the rocket pass through the point of peak heating as the reddish-pink plasma highlighting the reentry crescendoed to a stark purple.

It also allowed continuous views of the forward flap of Starship, which nearly ripped off, but persevered to allow for a controlled splashdown as well as a flurry of memes on social media that ranged from “Terminator 2” to “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.”

“From South Texas to the other side of the Earth, Starship is in the water. Whew, what a day,” said SpaceX’s Dan Huot during the company’s launch livestream. “That was absolutely incredible. We got views pretty much the whole way down. Analysis said we could do it, we weren’t if it was going to be able to happen. But Starlink powered through and we were able to get that signal.”

“We started to get some debris on the cameras and everything, but we were able to see it.”

Starlink will be getting another key technology demonstration later this summer when the four-member crew of the Polaris Dawn mission, commanded by businessman Jared Isaacman, performs an on-orbit communications test.

Starship made a controlled reentry, successfully making it through the phases of peak heating and max aerodynamic pressure and demonstrating the ability to control the vehicle using its flaps while descending through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds pic.twitter.com/p8bC9UweLx

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024