The first hour of Monday, SpaceX launched their own pre-holiday delivery method: a Falcon 9 rocket.
At 12:35 p.m., the rocket lit up Florida’s cloudy night sky as it hurtled into orbit. Its delivery – the next batch of SpaceX Starlink internet satellites. This batch included a total of 21 satellites, 13 of which were for Starlink’s mobile service. This particular mission was called Starlink 12-2.
Eight and a half minutes after takeoff, the first stage booster landed on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The booster was on its fourteenth flight, with previous missions including: seven Starlink missions, Axiom-2, Axiom-3, CRS-30, SES 24, Cygnus NG-21 and Euclid.
Overall, this was the Space Coast’s 91st launch of the year.
When is the next launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Blue Origin, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida
SpaceX Astranis mission postponed
After weather delayed the launch of four satellites for the company Astranis Space Technologies, the launch attempt was aborted in a rare last-second move on Friday, December 20. SpaceX postponed the mission again Saturday evening, stating that they would halt the launch after reviewing the data. SpaceX has not yet announced a new launch date.
Be sure to follow the FLORIDA TODAY Space Team for the latest news from the Space Coast.
Brooke Edwards is a space reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or at X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX rocket launch from Cape Canaveral delivers Starlink satellites
