SpaceX launching 21 Starlink satellites from Florida on Feb. 8 – Space.com
Source: Space.com
Liftoff occurred at 2:18 p.m. EST on Saturday (Feb. 8).
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SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida’s Space Coast on Saturday (Feb. 8).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Saturday, at 2:18 p.m. EST (1918 GMT).
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff.. It touched down in the Atlantic Ocean on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas.”
It was the 17th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Twelve of its 16 flights to date have been Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued to carry the 21 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, to deploy them there about 65 minutes after liftoff.
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SpaceX has now launched 17 Falcon 9 missions in 2025, 11 of them Starlink flights.
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The company also has one other launch under its belt — the Jan. 16 test flight of its Starship megarocket, which was a partial success. Starship’s Super Heavy first stage came back to the launch tower for a “chopsticks” catch as planned, but the vehicle’s upper stage exploded about 8.5 minutes after launch, apparently because of a propellant leak.
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Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, “Out There,” was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
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