SpaceX, ULA launch rockets from Cape Canaveral
SpaceX launched its 86th Starlink mission this year. The flight will add another 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to orbit. It has 8,400 already there.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:39 a.m. EDT.
It used the Falcon9 booster with tail number B1080, which made its 22nd flight on this mission. At about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, it landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas. It was the 126th recovery for the ship.
A ULA Atlas V rocket launched at 8:09 a.m. EDT carrying 27 Project Kuiper satellites.
Project Kuiper is Amazon's satellite internet project and will eventually have about 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit.
Today's launch was the fifth for this mission after two Atlas V and two Falcon 9 launches that have sent 102 satellites into orbit.
"Named KA-03 for Amazon's third launch on a ULA Atlas V rocket, the mission sent another 27 satellites into orbit, bringing the total number of Kuiper spacecraft launched to date to 129 satellites," Amazon said on its mission update page.
Related Links
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
