![]() ![]() Shell two satellites operate in orbits at an altitude of 570 kilometers, inclined at 70 degrees. The first-generation Starlink system consists of five different orbital shells, with multiple planes per shell and multiple satellites in each plane. The Starlink Group 2-8 mission was the sixth deployment of satellites into the second shell of the first-generation Starlink constellation - the numbers are out of sequence, with the Group 2-2 and 2-3 missions having not yet launched. ![]() The Starlink launch saw the booster land aboard Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean, while Just Read The Instructions was positioned in the Atlantic to support the SES mission. īoth missions launched aboard flight-proven Falcon 9 rockets, and both completed booster recoveries aboard SpaceX’s Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ships (ASDS) downrange of their respective launch sites. The deployment of SES-18 and 19 was SpaceX’s third commercial geostationary launch of the year and continued a long-running relationship with European satellite operator SES. These are SpaceX’s 18th and 19th missions of 2023, with Starlink Group 2-8 marking the company’s ninth Starlink launch of the year – and the fifth of the year going to the second shell of the first-generation constellation. Just over four hours later, the second lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 7:38 PM EDT (23:38 UTC) carrying a pair of satellites for commercial operator SES. The first of Friday’s two launches occurred at 12:26 PM PDT (19:26 UTC) from Vandenberg, California, with the 52 satellites of Starlink Group 2-8 aboard. Hot on the heels of Tuesday’s successful CRS-27 launch, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 was in action again for a pair of back-to-back missions from both coasts Friday, tasked with deploying communications satellites into orbit.
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