SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

Update March 22, 11:54 a.m. EDT (1554 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 29 Starlink satellites.

SpaceX launched a mid-morning flight of its Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday. The launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station will be its 37th launch of the year.

The Starlink 10-62 mission features 29 of SpaceX’s Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites, which were deployed into low Earth orbit about an hour after liftoff.

Launch took place at 10:47 a.m. EDT (1447 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40. The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a northeasterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.

The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a greater than 95 percent chance for favorable weather at liftoff with no specific meteorological concerns.

SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1078. This was its 27th flight after launching missions, like NASA’s Crew-6, USSF-124, and 21 batches of Starlink satellites.

Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1078 landed on the drone ship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 148th landing on this vessel and the 590th booster recovery for SpaceX to date.