Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
It wasn’t the launch we wanted, but it was a launch that we needed after the disappointment of Crew 10 scrubbing earlier in the evening last night: SpaceX launched Starlink with another batch of 21 Starlink satellites from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Wednesday evening. Liftoff was at 10:35 PM ET, with Falcon 9 taking the southeasterly familiar path towards The Bahamas as has been the case with all other Starlink Group 20 launches. The mission was successful.
Graphic: Talk of Titusville
After multiple delays, Falcon 9 finally flew from SLC-40, ending a rare dry spell of launches from the Eastern Range. This mission was initially delayed for checkouts after an issue with Falcon 9 booster B1086 and Starlink 12-20. On that mission, the booster experienced a fuel leak and was destroyed by fire shortly after landing on March 2 and SpaceX spent time reviewing data from that event and also making sure it would not repeat itself during last night’s flight.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
High winds at ground level scrubbed a launch attempt on Monday. SpaceX announced an attempt but did not fuel the Falcon 9 used for Starlink12-21 on Tuesday, following the launch of NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions from Vandenberg Space Force Base and also because of the then-upcoming launch of Crew-10 (which was delayed last night after a hydraulic issue on the launch pad.)
After completing its part in the ascent of the mission, booster B1069 landed successfull on ASDS A Shortfall Of Gravitas after its 22nd flight. There have no reports of a repetition of the issue that ended B1086’s lifetime. ASOG and B1069 will now travel to Port Canaveral where the booster will be unloaded, transported to SpaceX’s refurbishment facility at Kennedy Space Center and ostensibly prepared for its next flight at some future date.
Launch Replay
Next Launch
- Mission: Crew 10
- Location: Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Pad: Launch Complex 39A
- Status: Go for Launch
- Window Opens: Friday, 03/14/2025 7:03:00 PM ET
- Window Closes: Friday, 03/14/2025 7:03:00 PM ET
- Destination: International Space Station
- Mission Description: SpaceX Crew-10 is the tenth crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Author: Charles Boyer
NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.
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