Live: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 25 Starlink satellites launch from Vandenberg, California
Video from the channel Spaceflight Now about Falcon 9, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 47:56. Language: English. Video type: Livestream.
What's being broadcast
This is Spaceflight Now's commentated broadcast of the Starlink 17-31 launch: a Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 4 East on Friday, March 13, carrying 25 optimized Starlink V2 Mini satellites. Will Robinson-Smith hosted the broadcast from the outlet's newsroom at Kennedy Space Center. The first stage was B1071, flying for the 32nd time.
Before liftoff, the countdown is reviewed. At T-35 min, loading of RP-1 and liquid oxygen begins, followed by the cryogenic helium that pressurizes the tanks. Next come the chilldown of the strongback, the second stage's oxygen loading, and the chilldown of the nine Merlin 1D engines. The strongback retracts about 13°, the onboard computer takes control in the final minute, and the rocket carries a total of one million pounds of propellant. On the payload, it is explained that the satellites use argon Hall thrusters, are built in Redmond, Washington, and are deployed at about 262 km with a 97.3° inclination. With this flight, the constellation was nearing 10,000 satellites in orbit.
Key moments
After liftoff come supersonic speed and Max Q, followed by first-stage shutdown around T+2 min 27 s, stage separation, and ignition of the Merlin Vacuum engine. The fairing then separates and is also recovered. The first stage reached an apogee of about 113 km, fired three engines for reentry and one for landing, and touched down on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You.
Outcome
The mission was nominal. B1071 landed for the 32nd time and the second stage reached the planned orbit. Still pending were a brief circularization burn and deployment at T+1 h 1 min 30 s, which is not shown. It was the 613th Falcon 9 launch and SpaceX's 31st of the year, as well as the 183rd landing on that droneship and the company's 584th first-stage landing. At the close, upcoming launches are reviewed, including Artemis 2, planned for no earlier than April 1.