SpaceX successfully launched another batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit today. However, they missed a milestone rocket landing on what was the company’s fourth flight of the year. Smoked billowed and flames erupted as the sooty Falcon 9 roared to life, lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The launch went off without a hitch following a 24-hour delay due to an issue with a valve component on the rocket’s second stage.
The satellites rode into space atop a veteran Falcon 9 first stage, marking the fourth time the company has flown a booster.
The booster, dubbed B1056.4 by SpaceX, previously launched two commercial resupply missions (CRS-17 in May 2019 and CRS-18 that July).
This was followed by the massive telecommunications satellite JCSAT-18/Kacific1 in December.
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Following the successful launch, the rocket’s first stage failed to land on a SpaceX’s drone ship landing platform in the Atlantic Ocean.
If successful, it would have marked a major milestone for the company: 50 booster recoveries.
The company said this Starlink mission was the 80th SpaceX launch.
SpaceX Starlink engineer Lauren Lyons said: “We clearly did not make the landing this time.”
She continued: “Unfortunately, we did not land the first stage on our drone ship.
“But it did make a soft landing on the water, right next to the drone ship, so it does look like it might be in one piece.”
The missed landing could be attributed to a change in orbit for the satellites.
For this launch, the satellites were inserted into an elliptical orbit making the landing more challenging than normal.