On February 29, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. ET, SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 vehicle from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida carrying a payload of 23 Starlink satellites.
This launch comes as the company is preparing to send NASA’s Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station using the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
The rocket maker loaded propellant to the vehicle 30 minutes before liftoff and ignited engines to fly the vehicle. The weather was clear on the coast and the flight happened as planned.
The Max Q was achieved in around a minute and the main engine was cut off at 2:30 minutes in the mission time. After an entry burn, the first stage landed on a droneship at 8:25 minutes after liftoff.
After a quick leap, Falcon 9’s first stage has completed its 11th mission, landing on the Just Read The Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean pic.twitter.com/OFrx4S2zbj
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 29, 2024
After an hour in mission, SpaceX confirmed the deployment of 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit which now contributes to its growing constellation.