Another 23 Starlink satellites are in orbit early this evening, after SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff was at 6:08 PM EDT.

Around 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the booster used tonight’ – B1076 — completed its thirteenth mission successfully when it touched down safely on the Automated Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) ‘Just Read The Instructions’ which was stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of the Bahamas.

Tonight’s flight was the 257th consecutive successful Falcon 9 launch (excluding Amos-6, which exploded during pre-launch testing) and the 356th launch for SpaceX.

Booster: B1076

B1076 has successfully completed its 13th mission.

Booster B1076
Flight Number	Mission	Launch Date
1	CRS-26	November 26, 2022
2	OneWeb 16	January 10, 2023
3	Starlink 6-1	February 27, 2023
4	Intelsat 40e	April 7, 2023
5	Starlink 6-3	May 19, 2023
6	Starlink 6-6	July 24. 2023
7	Starlink 6-14	September 9, 2023
8	Starlink 6-21	October 5, 2023
9	O3b mPOWER 5/6	November 12, 2023
10	Ovzon-3	January 3, 2024
11	Starlink 6-40	February 29, 2024
12	Eutelsat 36D	March 30, 2024
13	Starlink 6-54	April 28, 2024

‘Just Read The Instructions’ will return to Port Canaveral in a few days, where the booster will be offloaded and transported to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility at Kennedy Space Center, where it will be inspected, refurbished and possibly prepared for another next flight.

Next Launch

SpaceX plans to launch more Starlink satellites aboard a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s SLC-40 on Wednesday, May 1st.

• Date: NET May 1, 2024
• Organization: SpaceX
• Mission: Starlink 6-55
• Rocket: Falcon 9
• Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
• Launch Window: 09:43 PM – 02:14 PM EDT
• Payload: 23 communications satellites

Keep in mind that launch dates and times change often. Launch attempts can be scrubbed anytime due to weather, technical reasons, or range conditions.