8.01.2025

SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to begin the Starlink 12-11 mission on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.

Update Jan. 8, 11:37 a.m. EST (1637 UTC): SpaceX confirms successful deployment of the 21 Starlink satellites.

SpaceX kicked off Wednesday with the launch of a batch of 21 Starlink satellites, heading to low Earth orbit. Among those were 13 satellites equipped to provide text and data cellphone service.

Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center happened at 10:27 a.m. EST (1527 UTC).

On Monday, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast an 95 percent chance of favorable launch weather for Wednesday, with liftoff winds being the primary concern. It also listed upper-level wind shear as a ‘moderate’ risk and booster recovery weather as a ‘low’ to ‘moderate’ risk.

SpaceX reused the Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1086, on this flight. It previously served as one of two Falcon Heavy side boosters on the GOES-U mission in June 2024 and then on Starlink 12-5 in December.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1086 landed on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ The successful touchdown marked the 93rd booster landing on ASOG and the 393rd booster landing to date.

Year 2 for Direct to Cell

The first Falcon 9 Starlink launch of 2024 included the first six satellites that featured Direct to Cell capabilities. Since then, SpaceX launched 31 Starlink missions with DTC satellites on board.

As of Jan. 7, 2025, SpaceX had launched a total of 401 DTC Starlink satellites, however, 13 failed to reach their intended operational orbit due to the upper stage anomaly experienced during the Starlink 9-3 mission on July 11, 2024.

According to its Progress 2024 report published in December, SpaceX’s DTC network consists of “nearly 350 satellites,” which suggests that some of those launched in 2024 may have already deorbited or haven’t been factored into the satellites that SpaceX considers part of its operational network. The company didn’t elaborate in its report.

SpaceX did state it has “plans to double the number of Direct to Cell Starlink satellites by mid-2025.”

SpaceX said its DTC Starlink satellites “use innovative, custom silicon phased array antennas and advanced software algorithms to overcome the challenges of phone-to-space communications.”

Quelle: SN