SpaceX Starlink launch breaks file for Florida spaceport

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 40 on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on September 25. Monday’s SpaceX launch of 29 Starlink satellites was Florida’s 94th liftoff this yr and broke the annual launch file for the state. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 10 (UPI) — The SpaceX launch of 29 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit Monday evening from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station broke an annual launch file for Florida’s spaceport.

Monday’s liftoff was the 94th launch of an orbital class rocket within the state, breaking the earlier file set on the finish of final yr.

“Engines full power and lift off. Go SpaceX. Go Starlink,” mission management mentioned Monday because the rocket lifted off at 10:21 p.m. EST.

The industrial launch, which added 29 Starlink Internet satellites to the orbital constellation, had been scheduled for earlier within the day, however was delayed till after 10 p.m., attributable to a scarcity of air site visitors controllers throughout the federal government shutdown.

Florida’s spaceport — which covers NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — has seen a major enhance within the variety of launches during the last 5 years, particularly with the frequency of flights by SpaceX. The solely other rockets to launch from Florida this yr had been Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket and three ULA Atlas V rockets.

For Monday’s record-breaking launch, SpaceX used a more recent booster. It was the third flight for the first-stage booster B1096, which additionally launched KF-01 for Amazon’s Project Kuiper and NASA’s IMAP rideshare mission earlier this yr.

The first-stage booster carried out an autonomous touchdown simply over eight minutes after liftoff on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, stationed within the Atlantic Ocean.