Just after midnight on Tuesday, SpaceX launched the most recent set of Starlink satellites for its broadband megaconstellation. But it’s also possible that there were other satellites aboard.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched the Starlink 13-1 mission at 12:24 a.m. EST (0524 UTC) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The SpaceX broadcast, oddly, started a few minutes into the mission instead of on schedule. When it started, it didn’t have the standard telemetry information and didn’t have any views of the upper stage of the Falcon 9, which is something that happens on a Starlink mission.
The mission was launched using a Falcon 9 first stage rocket with tail number B1083. The launches of Crew-8, Polaris Dawn, and CRS-31 were among its prior missions.
B1083 landed on the SpaceX droneship, “A Shortfall of Gravias,” which was positioned out in the Atlantic Ocean, following its eighth launch. This was the 399th booster landing to date and the 95th landing for ASOG.
SpaceX’s ninth orbital flight in 2025 and its fifth dedicated Starlink launch of the year will be the Starlink 13-1 mission. There were 21 Starlink satellites aboard the trip.
Interestingly, 13 of the 21 satellites on the Starlink constellation’s most recent missions have Direct to Cell capability.
Topics #21 Starlink Satellites #Falcon 9 rocket #Kennedy Space Center #SpaceX
