SpaceX launches Starlink mission from California a day after last-second abort

SpaceX successfully launched 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Tuesday morning. This mission followed a previous attempt that was aborted at the last second on Monday due to an issue during the engine ignition sequence. The countdown clock had reached zero when the nine Merlin 1D engines initiated, only to shut down before liftoff could occur.

The second attempt proceeded without incident. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 7:49 a.m. PDT under clear conditions. The vehicle followed a south-southwesterly trajectory to place the satellites into a 97-degree inclination orbit. All 24 payloads were deployed into space approximately one hour after the flight began.

This mission relied on the B1082 first-stage booster, which has now completed 23 separate flights. Following the separation of the upper stage, the booster performed a landing on the droneship titled Of Course I Still Love You, which sat in the Pacific Ocean. This event marks the 212th landing for this specific vessel and represents the 640th successful booster recovery for the company.

SpaceX maintains a high tempo of operations with this being the 85th Falcon 9 launch of the year. A majority of these flights focus on the expansion of the Starlink network, which currently consists of more than 10,800 individual satellites in low Earth orbit. This launch continues the regular cadence of maintenance and growth for the broadband constellation.