In the fourth mission of 2024 from the West Coast, a SpaceX rocket launched late Sunday from Vandenberg Space Force Base, completing a double-header on both coasts.
After several delays for unexplained reasons, the Falcon 9 rocket launched at 9:57 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base, departing into mostly clear skies and creating a long rumble heard throughout Santa Barbara County.
Minutes later, the first-stage booster, finishing its ninth mission, landed on the drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You, positioned in the Pacific Ocean.
The 23 Starlink satellites successfully deployed approximately an hour after liftoff, according to SpaceX.
The Vandenberg blastoff completed a double-header within five hours for SpaceX and Starlink.
Another Falcon 9 rocket launched at 5:10 p.m. PST Sunday from Florida to deliver 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. That first-stage booster completed its 18th flight with Sunday’s mission.
The 45 Starlink satellites launched Sunday added to the more than 5,700 satellites previously sent into space. Approximately 5,400 remain in space, according to Jonathan McDowell’s detailed online tally.
SpaceX is one of several companies and agencies creating mega constellations, which accounts for a boost in the number of launches.
Starlink reportedly aims to launch 30,000 satellites for its system to provide high-speed internet access across the globe, especially in areas where land-based service isn’t reliable or accessible.
The company hopes to conduct roughly 50 launches from Vandenberg this year, doubling that number annually in the coming years.
Sunday’s mission took place five days after the previous launch from Vandenberg. That mission encountered a number of weather-related delays before finally launching.
On Monday, Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX vice president of launch, noted the quick turnaround undertaken by the Vandenberg and droneship teams to make Sunday’s mission happen.
He gave a special shout out to the West Coast team “for smashing the launch-to-launch record” for SLC-4 and OCISLY.
“At just over five days, the pad and droneship have demonstrated the speed required to meet our 2024 launch rate,” Dontchev said.
The SpaceX double-header occurred on the 38th anniversary of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. Seven astronauts were killed in the explosion when the orbiter broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff from Florida.
The tragedy led to the end of the West Coast space shuttle program before it ever saw a launch at Vandenberg.
Coincidentally, SpaceX intends to add a second Vandenberg site by using the former shuttle facility, Space Launch Complex-6, which most recently supported United Launch Alliance in the 2022 launch of a Delta IV rocket.