SpaceX completed a double launch day on Tuesday with a Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Starlink 9-7 mission occurred just a few hours after the Starlink 10-10 mission launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) occurred at 1:21 a.m. PDT (4:21 a.m. EDT, 0821 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1071 in the SpaceX fleet, flew for a 19th time. It previously supported three missions for the National Reconnaissance Office (NROL-87, -85 and -146), two rideshare missions (Transporter-8 and -9) and 11 previous Starlink missions.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1071 touched down on the SpaceX droneship ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ It marked the 104th booster landing on OCISLY and the 354th booster landing to date.
Onboard the mission are 20 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, of which 13 feature Direct to Cell capabilities. As SpaceX looks to build out this part of its constellation, this mission will bring the total up to 246 DTC Starlink satellites on orbit. Deployment of the satellites was due to occur just over an hour into the mission.
The Starlink 9-7 mission is the first batch of DTC Starlink satellites to launch since the United States was hit by both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. Following the landfall of the latter, SpaceX announced it was granted access to activate the DTC satellites “to provide emergency alerts for all phones and carriers of those in affected areas.”
“The [Federal Communications Commission] has also rapidly approved emergency special temporary authority for coverage in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton,” SpaceX said in a social media post. “We have now enabled basic texting (SMS) for those on T-Mobile phones in hurricane affected areas. Text messages have already been sent and received.”
SpaceX also published a coverage map of the areas struck by the hurricanes and stated that in those regions, “Starlink service is now free through the end of the year to help with response and recovery efforts.”
For those impacted by Hurricanes Helene or Milton, Starlink service is now free through the end of the year to help with response and recovery efforts → https://t.co/fUko3xSviJ pic.twitter.com/vEaGPavsFz
— Starlink (@Starlink) October 11, 2024
