With a stubborn marine layer shrouding its departure, the first stack of Starlink satellites from the West Coast got off the ground at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday night aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
Liftoff of the two-stage rocket standing 229 feet tall occurred at 8:55 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base, with the mission having just one chance for departure or face delay until another day.
The Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9 rocket carried 51 upgraded Starlink satellites as the firm continues to build its constellation to provide high-speed internet service aimed especially at customers in rural and remote areas around the world.
Light winds, good for launch, meant the dense marine layer hovered over the Vandenberg site, making it difficult for some on the Central Coast see more than a quick glimpse of the rocket’s departure.
However, the streaking rocket, sporting a rainbow contrail, was clearly visible along the South Coast and at other county locations, and the rumble of the liftoff could be heard in several communities.
After completing its task, the rocket’s first-stage booster separated to safely return to Earth and land on the drone ship, dubbed “Of Course I Still Love You,” parked in the Pacific Ocean.
This is the first time this drone ship has supported a West Coast mission after previously performing the same chore following Florida launches. A different vessel served as a the landing platform after some earlier Falcon rocket liftoffs from Vandenberg.
The Starlink satellite deployment occurred approximately 15 minutes after the Falcon rocket’s liftoff with the individual spacecraft expected to later separate from each other and maneuver into their final orbital location.
Monday marked the 16th liftoff of Starlink satellites this year, according to SpaceX, and the 32nd overall, with the others launching from Florida.
The Starlnk beta service currently is available in a number of locations across the globe, including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Chile.
So far, more than 500,000 people have placed an order or made a deposit for service and more than 100,000 user terminals have shipped, according to SpaceX.
“With every Starlink launch, network capacity will increase, allowing Starlink to serve more people in more areas around the globe,” a SpaceX engineer said. “Starlnk is already delivering high-speed broadband internet to remote areas that previously had limited or no internet access.”
The small satellites that launched from Vandenberg employed upgrades incorporated into the craft in a move to improve service to customers.
Additional Falcon 9 rocket launches with Starlink satellites will occur in the coming months.
Monday’s liftoff means Vandenberg is on track to conduct four launches during September.
The busy series began Sept. 2 with the debut of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket, which ended in failure more than two minutes into the flight.
On Sunday morning, a missile-defense test involved a booster popping out an underground silo on North Base.
Also planned for this month is the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for a NASA mission to place the Landsat 9 spacecraft in orbit from Space Launch Complex-3 on South Base.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.