Starlink L17 has been at the pad for weeks now, having its launch date repeatedly pushed back with even having L18 and L19 pass it and making it to space. It finally made it to countdown but aborted just before liftoff.
Starlink L17 will be flown on the life-leading booster B1049 who started off its life by launching Telstar 18V all the way back in 2018. Flying 7 times it is the second most flown booster in the SpaceX fleet and plans to tie the record with the launch of 60 Starlink satellites.
During its countdown Sunday evening all was going smoothly until an abort was called at T-1:24 which prompted a stop to fueling and a scrub for the launch attempt. The next launch attempt was supposed to be yesterday but due to unfavorable weather for launch and in the recovery area as well as a range conflict. the next launch attempt will be on Thursday, March 4th at 3:24 AM Est at LC-39A on Kennedy Space Center.
Launch!
Starlink L17 took off without any issues early Thursday morning and deployed its 60 satellites into low Earth orbit. The booster, B1049 successfully landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You for the 8th time.
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