At 0050 GMT on 24 July a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket successfully launched 22 Starlink v2 Mini satellites from Cape Canaveral, Florida, as Group 6-6 for SpaceX’s second generation Starlink constellation. The pad used was Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40).
The 22 Starlink v2 Mini satellites were deployed at approximately T+1 hour 5 minutes into their initial 323 x 315 km orbit inclined at 43 degrees. From there, the circa 800 kg satellites will use their own propulsion to slowly raise themselves to their circular 530 km operational orbit.
At approximately T+8 minutes 25 seconds the B1076 reusable Falcon 9 first-stage, on its sixth flight, successfully landed on the drone barge Just Remember The Instructions located circa 643 km downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.
David Todd contributed to this report.
Long exposure photograph showing track of Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 launch of Starlink Group 6-6. Courtesy: SpaceX
