SpaceX Launched Direct To Cell Starlink Satellites On First Mission Of 2024

Space.com

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink satellites from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base for the first time this year.  Credit: SpaceX

Transcript

00:00 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition, and liftoff of Falcon 9.

00:11 [engine noise]

00:27 [engine noise]

00:41 At T plus 33 seconds, you are watching Falcon 9 accelerate our Starlink satellites out into space.

00:49 We are throttling down our engines on the first stage vehicle, and that is in preparation for Max-Q.

00:55 Power and telemetry nominal.

00:57 Good call-outs there. Max-Q is the largest amount of stresses that the vehicle sees on ascent,

01:02 so we do slow the vehicle down just a little bit in preparation for passing through Max-Q.

01:08 And that should be coming up--

01:09 Falcon 9 to supersonic.

01:11 That should be coming up here in just under 10 seconds.

01:18 Max-Q.

01:20 Great news. We have passed through Max-Q.

01:42 All right, we're a minute and a half into--

01:44 M-Vac engine chill has started.

01:46 The green call there tells us that the engine on the second stage, that M-Vac,

01:50 has begun to flow some super-chilled liquid oxygen through the engine

01:53 to begin to bring that hardware down in temperature.

01:57 We're less than a minute away from main engine cutoff, stage separation, second engine start.

02:02 Those all happen really quickly, so don't blink.

02:06 After that, we will jettison the fairings.

02:08 At this point in time, the first stage is experiencing about 3.3 Gs.

02:13 Beautiful view there on your screen of the vehicle

02:16 as it's just lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

02:24 Now able to see that plume beginning to deplete as we are preparing for main engine cutoff.

02:38 Main engine cutoff.

02:41 Stage separation confirmed.

02:45 All right, as you can see there on your screen, successful M-Vac ignition there on your right-hand side.

02:52 And before that, we had first stage engine shutdown and stage separation.

03:00 We can see here on the left-hand side of the screen the first stage grid fins starting to deploy.

03:08 Those help steer the booster back to its precise landing.

03:16 Fairing separation confirmed.

03:19 All right, as you heard and just saw, successful fairing separation.

03:23 That marks the ninth flight for one of those fairing halves and the 11th flight for the other.

03:28 We, of course, will attempt to recover those fairing halves again to use on a future flight.

03:55 Plus three minutes and 48 seconds into flight.

03:59 And right now you are looking at a view from the second stage vehicle looking at our M-Vac engine.

04:06 Glowing very brightly there.

04:08 The first stage is making its way back down to Earth right now.

04:13 And it does take two burns to make its way back down to our drone ship,

04:18 which is, of course, I still love you for tonight's scheduled landing.

04:24 Those two burns coming up will be the entry burn, which is just about a couple minutes away from now,

04:29 followed by the landing burn.

04:31 The entry burn is where we reignite three of the nine M1D engines on the vehicle,

04:36 and that helps slow the stage down as it's reentering back into the Earth's atmosphere.

04:41 Then once we shut down those engines to conclude the entry burn,

04:45 the atmosphere actually scrubs most of the velocity as it's making its way back to its landing zone.

04:50 And then we use one final burn, a single engine burn, the center E9 engine will reignite,

04:55 and that will help to slow the vehicle down just in time to touchdown for landing.

05:00 Again, the entry burn on the first stage is coming up in a little over a minute from now.

05:08 And though you can't see it on your screen, on the bottom left-hand corner,

05:12 you can see the telemetry of the stage one vehicle, so you can see its speed and altitude.

05:17 And for the second stage vehicle on your right hand, the right bottom corner of your screen

05:22 is where you can see the telemetry for stage two.

05:28 We're about one minute away from the entry burn on the first stage vehicle.

05:32 Those vehicles are following a nominal trajectory.

05:34 And good call-outs there.

05:36 Both first stage and second stage are following nominal trajectories.

05:43 This mission marks SpaceX's 296th overall launch, and it is the first of 2024.

05:54 Again, it is carrying our Starlink satellites for this mission, including our first six direct-to-sell satellites.

06:04 Now that entry burn on the first stage is coming up in just under 20 seconds.

06:23 There you can see on your left-hand screen is a view from the first stage.

06:28 Good timing. We heard that call-out.

06:30 And now you can see on your screen those engines have relit on the first stage vehicle.

06:35 This is just about a 20-second burn.

06:50 Stage one entry burn shut down.

06:54 And there we heard that call-out as well.

06:55 As you can see, the engines have shut down on the first stage vehicle.

06:58 That concludes the entry burn.

07:00 The first of two burns that the first stage requires to make its way back to landing.

07:05 The next burn is the landing burn coming up in just about a minute and a half.

07:14 Stage one FTS has saved.

07:20 Everything continues to look good for both the first and second stage.

07:26 You've been following along with that altitude there on the left-hand side of your screen for stage one.

07:31 It actually kept increasing in altitude until about four and a half minutes, T plus four and a half minutes.

07:39 As we can see, it's getting closer and closer.

07:41 We are targeting a landing on our drone ship.

07:45 Just read the instructions.

07:48 Excuse me. Of course, I still love you.

07:51 And there we just heard the call-out that the first stage is transonic, telling us that it is traveling near the speed of sound.

07:59 Now only six kilometers above the ocean.

08:07 So about 12 seconds, we should see that landing burn ignite.

08:13 That's a one engine burn designed to --

08:20 There we heard the call-out, so we should see it here. There we go.

08:24 So the first stage has lit one engine to prepare for landing.

08:28 Stage two FTS has saved.

08:31 We're targeting a landing on our drone ship, which you there see there now.

08:35 Of course, I still love you.

08:44 Stage one landing confirmed.

08:46 A beautiful nighttime shot there of a successful landing.

08:50 That is Falcon 9 touching down for the 260th overall successful recovery of an orbital class rocket.

08:59 - Okay.

08:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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