SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites during final orbital launch of 2024

Updated Dec. 31 at 1:45 a.m. EST (0645 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 21 Starlink satellites.

SpaceX ended its orbital launch year in the same way it began, by launching a batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites including multiple featuring direct to cell phone capabilities.

The Starlink 12-6 mission launched onboard the company’s 132nd and final Falcon 9 flight of 2024. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center happened at 12:39 a.m. EST (0539 UTC) on Tuesday, Dec. 31. Launch was original scheduled for 1:02 a.m. EST on Monday, Dec. 30, but appeared to slip to the end of the window because launch preparations were running behind schedule. As of 6:25 p.m. EST on Sunday, the rocket had not rolled out of its hangar.

The Falcon 9 first stage booster for this mission, B1078 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for a 16th time. Its previous missions included Crew-6, USSF-124 and 11 Starlink missions.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1078 targeted a landing on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ It marked the 104th booster landing on JRTI and the 390th booster landing to date.

Another record year

With a successful mission, SpaceX closed out another record-breaking year for its Falcon family of rockets. It increased its launches year-over-year by nearly 40 percent ending 2024 with 134 orbital launches compared to 2023’s 96.

Here’s a breakdown of the year by quarter:

• Q1 – 31
• Q2 – 36 (one Falcon Heavy)
• Q3 – 27
• Q4 – 40 (one Falcon Heavy)

SpaceX faced a few stints during the year where the Falcon fleet was grounded due to anomalies that occurred in flight. Most notably was an upper stage failure on the Starlink 9-3 mission, which launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 12 and resulted in the loss of the 20 Starlink satellites on board.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the fleet while SpaceX conducted a mishap investigation. The company was cleared to resume launches on July 25 while the investigation remained open. Its first launch following that happened on July 27.

The following month, a failed booster landing on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ resulted in another fleet grounding, though this was cleared by the FAA within a few days.

Finally, following successful deployment of the Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Crew-9 mission on Sept. 28, there was another upper stage issue which caused a mistiming of the deorbit burn. A third mishap investigation was opened, but SpaceX was allowed to launch the Hera mission for the European Space Agency on Oct. 7 because the mission didn’t require a deorbit burn.

The FAA cleared a return to flight for SpaceX on Oct. 11.

The company is aiming to further ramp up its launch pace in 2025 while introducing new customers and more astronaut missions. SpaceX is poised to launch at least two commercial astronaut missions (Fram-2 and Ax-4) and two crew rotation missions to the International Space Station for NASA and its partners (Crew-10 and Crew-11).

There may also be another private astronaut mission before the end of the year, though that hasn’t been announced yet by NASA. Vast is vying fly a commercial crew to the ISS as it works towards achieving its own commercial space station.

Among its many customers in 2025, SpaceX is also poised to launch three batches of Project Kuiper satellites on behalf of Amazon. The online retail giant said in a December 2023 blog post that launches onboard Falcon 9 would take place beginning in mid-2025.

However, that post also noted that it intended to begin deployment of its satellite fleet in “the first half of 2024” and would “have enough satellites deployed to begin early customer pilots in the second half of 2024.” Amazon also said in late 2024 that its first operational batch of Project Kuiper satellites will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in the first quarter of calendar year 2025.