March 4, 2021: After an abort at a little over T-1 minute, SpaceX got the next batch of 60 starlinks flying. There really wasn’t much to see on this one. After liftoff, the Falcon 9 disappeared into the clouds. There was also no camera views from the first stage, just the droneship and second stage. Both fairing catchers were having work done so both halves were recovered by other support vessels.
Starlink’s service has now been opened up to anyone and will be filled on a first-come/first-served basis.
- Starlink satellites launched to orbit: 1205 (includes test satellites and V 0.9)
- Satellites de-orbited: 81 (De-orbited or in the process of de-orbiting)
- Boosters landed/missions: 18/21
Previous launches
2/22/2018: Starlink test sats, known as Tintin A and Tintin B, launched on Paz mission.
5/24/2019: 60 V0.9 sats launched. Pre-production version of the final Starlink Satellites.
11/11/2019: First 60 V 1.0 launched.
1/7/2020: 60 launched. One sat called “DarkSat” has non-reflective paint coating to reduce visibility from ground.
1/29/2020: 60 launched.
2/17/2020: 60 launched. Booster recovery failed.
3/18/2020: 60 launched. Booster recovery failed.
4/22/2020: 60 launched.
6/4/2020: 60 launched. 1 called “VisorSat” has a sunshade to reduce visibility from ground.
6/13/2020: 58 launched. Rideshare with 3 small sats for PlanetLabs.
8/7/2020: 57 launched. Rideshare with 2 small sats for BlackSky.
9/3/20: 60 launched
10/6/20: 60 launched. Earlier attempt saw launch abort before liftoff.
10/18/20: 60 launched. Rough faring half catch attempt.
10/24/20: 60 launched. No faring catch attempt. Both vessels damaged from previous catches. This marked SpaceX’s 100th successful mission.
11/24/20: 60 launched after 1 month off. SpaceX focused on engine troubles and the launch of Crew-1, the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon capsule to the ISS. Fairings splashed down, no catch attempt.
1/20/21: 60 launched.
1/24/21: 10 sats launched to a polar orbit as part of the Transporter-1 mission. These were also the first to include laser communications to route data between sats before sending to ground.
2/4/21: 60 launched
2/15/21: 60 launched. Fairings recovered from water, no catch attempt. B1059 lost on failed landing attempt.
3/4/21: 60 launched. Fairings fished from water. Both catch vessels were out of commission for this one. Successful booster recovery but no onboard camera views for unknown reason.
8/17/2020: 58 launched. Rideshare with 3 small sats for PlanetLabs.
9/3/2020: 60 launched
About Starlink
Starlink is a satellite based broadband internet service by SpaceX. The service will operate thousands of satellites in a low orbit to improve internet speeds and latency, comparable to land-based broadband services. The low orbit also ensures that any satellites that need to be retired can be deorbited quickly instead of staying in orbit as trash for decades or longer. Invite-only beta testing has begun in the northern parts of the US and southern Canada.
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