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Starlink 8-9 (Falcon 9) 3 July 2024 |
Space Launch Complex 40 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station |
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 20 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:55 a.m. on 3 July 2024. Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SES-22, ispace's HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, and 10 Starlink missions. |
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| The Sun just below the horizon illuminates the second stage exhaust plume forming the distinctive "jellyfish" in the latter half of the launch time exposure. | |
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Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) and stage separation. |
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| Upper left - Second stage exhaust plume; upper right - second stage exhaust plume illuminated by the Sun below the horizon; lower left & right - first stage entry burn. | |
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Second stage disappearing behind clouds. |
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