File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX completed a double launch day on Sunday with the flight of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Starlink 7-17 mission will add another 23 satellites to the growing low Earth orbit constellation.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) occurred at 9:09 p.m. PDT (12:09 a.m. EDT, 0409 UTC). It followed the successful launch of the Starlink 6-43 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force station at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 UTC).
The first stage booster supporting this mission, B1063, made its 17th flight. It previously launched NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, the Transporter-7 rideshare mission and 11 Starlink satellite missions among its previous flights.
B1063 landed on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ a little more than eight minutes after liftoff. This will mark the 85th landing on OCISLY and the 283rd booster landing to date.
This mission was the ninth launch for SpaceX from Florida in 2024 and the 309th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket to date.