SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 23 Starlink satellites on January 28, 2024

Sunday, January 28, 2024, SpaceX launched a new mission into low-Earth orbit and deployed 23 Starlink satellites.

The launch liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch was completed at the first opportunity and didn’t require a backup date.

This is the ninth mission for the first-stage booster rocket and it previously supported SDA-0A, SARah-2, and six Starlink missions. The first stage

The first stage consists of 9 Merlin engines and aluminum-lithium tanks filled with liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) propellant. The engine generates a total thrust of 1.7 million pounds.

Falcon 9 first stage equips four landing legs made with carbon fiber with an aluminum honeycomb. These legs deploy before the landing, as happened today when the first stage returned to the droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

The satellite deployment was confirmed within an hour of the launch and marked the 8th successful mission of this year. Now, SpaceX is next headed for the Northrop Grumman resupply mission for the Space Station on January 30, read more about this below.

SpaceX, NASA, Northrop Grumman to launch 20th resupply mission on January 29, 2024 (update)