Live: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 24 Starlink Satellites from California

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:01:55]Good evening everyone and welcome to Spaceflight Now's live coverage of the latest mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. I'm Will Robinson Smith, reporter with Spaceflight Now. It's good to be with you here on this Wednesday evening, April 29th. We are broadcasting, as we always do, from the Spaceflight Now news bureau at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

[00:02:18]SpaceX is currently tanking its Falcon 9 rocket following a successful flight of its Falcon Heavy from the east coast, getting ready for a West Coast evening launch, sending a batch of 24 Starlink V2 mini satellites up into low Earth orbit.

[00:02:42]The departure time from Space Launch Complex 4 East is what you see on your screen. 7:42 p.m. Pacific, 10:42 p.m.

[00:02:50]Eastern, 0242 UTC for those joining around the world.

[00:03:00]As is always the case with the SpaceX Falcon rocket, now that tanking is underway, SpaceX is committing to a launch attempt at the time you see advertised.

[00:03:13]Any issue that were to come up between now and the planned liftoff time would result in a scrub and a minimum 24-hour turnaround.

[00:03:31]really appreciate those of you who are with us here tonight, especially those who are coming back aboard following our coverage of the Falcon Heavy this morning. See, we've got a little more than 1,700 of you in the chat.

[00:03:46]If you haven't already, you could do us a big favor just by clicking the like button and sharing the stream to allow some more folks to find their way into this live launch coverage.

[00:03:56]Our photographer team has this evening off, but our Space Flight Now editor back with us once again to run the technical operations of the broadcast here tonight.

[00:04:11]Conditions over central to Southern California look pretty clear this evening. Taking a gander over at the latest weather loop from Noah's GO West satellites, you can see uh fairly clear conditions along the majority of the California coastline.

[00:04:34]just a smattering of clouds that are of course sitting characteristically right on top of Vandenberg. So, we'll wait to see what visibility at the pad looks like once we get within the final uh 10ish minutes of the count and SpaceX begins providing pad level views of the rocket. The Falcon 9 will travel on a largely southerntherly, slightly southwesterly path once it does lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

[00:05:14]This mission tonight set to be the 51st launch of a Falcon 9 rocket this year, the 42nd supporting SpaceX's Starlink constellation.

[00:05:31]Taking a look at our live chat here. I want to thank channel gentle members and uh moderators that are here with us.

[00:05:39]Our moderators tonight, Jeff Hansen and Jules.

[00:05:44]Appreciate you being with us here this evening. You can help the mod's job be that much easier just by following our live chat rules. We ask that you post your message in English so that our moderators can respond as appropriate.

[00:06:00]We also ask that you steer clear of topics of overt politics or religion and please do not type in all caps. Emojis are perfectly fine. We would just ask that you don't create a large block of them so it takes up a big chunk of the live chat space. And last, but certainly not least, we ask that you treat each other with the kindness and respect that you yourself would like to be treated, and we'll all get along swimmingly.

[00:06:40]where we are in the count at this point in time. T-minus 23 minutes 44 seconds in counting. SpaceX is a little bit more than 10 minutes into the fueling of their Falcon 9 rocket out at pad 4 east.

[00:06:58]The company is loading RP1, a rocket grade kerosene on board the Falcon 9's first and second stages.

[00:07:08]At the same time, liquid oxygen also flowing on board the Falcon 9's first stage.

[00:07:22]Stepping through the countdown timeline here, SpaceX has also begun to load cryogenic helium on board the Falcon 9's first and second stages. The helium is important because it's used to pressurize the main propellant tanks during flight.

[00:07:47]One of the most recent milestones that just passed us about 20 seconds ago was the conclusion of upper stage RP1 loading. Coming up next will be the chill down of the feed lines there at the pad.

[00:08:02]SpaceX thermally conditions those lines prior to loading liquid oxygen on board the Falcon 9's upper stage.

[00:08:10]Had we eyes on the vehicle, we would be seeing the so-called big vent beginning in about 2 minutes.

[00:08:17]That vent lasts about 4 minutes in duration and sets the stage for upper stage locks load to commence. Moving right on along at t-minus 7 minutes is the chill down of the nine Merlin engines at the base of the Falcon booster.

[00:08:35]SpaceX will flow a small amount of liquid oxygen through the plumbing and turbo pumps, helping to protect those engines from the risk of thermal shock and damage at startup. 6 minutes before takeoff, the first stage kerosene tank should be full. At T-minus 4 and 1/2 minutes, we'll see the retraction of the strong back. First, the clamp arms beneath the payload fairings will open up and then the transporter erector, otherwise referred to as the strong back, that will recline about 13 degrees away from the Falcon 9 rocket. Here at Vandenberg, it stays in that position up to and through liftoff.

[00:09:12]3 minutes before launch, the first stage liquid oxygen tank should be full. Then tminus 2 minutes, same will be true on the upper stage locks tank. At that point, the Falcon 9 rocket is fully loaded with 1 million pounds of propellant. In the final 60 seconds, as we hear the call that the Falcon 9 rocket is entered into its automated startup sequence, control of the countdown is handed over from the ground sequencer to the Falcon 9's onboard flight computers and the propellant tanks are brought up to flight pressure.

[00:09:42]SpaceX launch director will then confirm their go for launch status if they are in fact in that posture. That happens at t-minus 45 seconds, the engine ignition command will be granted at t-minus 3 seconds. And if all nine Merlin engines are healthy and ignite as expected, the command will be given for the hold down claims to release the Falcon 9 rocket for a teaser liftoff. Once again, looking at the time of departure, what you see there on your screen, 7:42 p.m.

[00:10:10]Pacific, 10:42 p.m. Eastern, 0242 UTC for those joining around the world.

[00:10:18]As a note on this, there are 49 seconds added to each of those times. So, closer to the succeeding minute than the one you see on your screen, but technically still time you see on your screen is correct.

[00:10:40]Just under 20 minutes remaining on the clock. Again, we are currently in the part of the fueling countdown where SpaceX is in the midst of the big vent repairing the feed lines before flowing the locks onto the upper stage.

[00:11:05]It's been a very successful day for SpaceX so far following the launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 10:13 a.m. Eastern this morning.

[00:11:20]About 5 hours later, there was confirmation of the successful deployment of Viasat satellite called the Viasat 3 F3.

[00:11:31]And the satellites manufacturer Boeing confirmed a good acquisition of signal and some of the early checkouts are getting underway.

[00:11:45]It'll take about two months or so to raise the satellite to its operating position at 155.58° east.

[00:12:01]Satellite is expected to enter service later this year, adding about one terabit per second of capacity to the constellation.

[00:12:23]Taking a look at our live chat here. I want to thank one of our channel members, the Kaiser, for a $10 super chat. Thank you, Kaiser, who says, "Forgot to do my dono.

[00:12:35]How are you, Will Robinson Smith? Hope your week is good. Very kind words here at the best YouTube channel to see the launches. Thanks to the mods, the folks helping the mods. Go SpaceX. Go Falcon 9. Hya.

[00:12:49]Yes, we certainly appreciate our moderators for helping us out in the chat. And a thanks to Cindy Kirkman for a $10 super chat as well, who says, "Thank you for all you do. Very kind of you, Cindy.

[00:13:04]Thank you for your support of what we do.

[00:13:10]One other bit of thanks. One of our channel members, Cumulus Granadus, is with us again in the chat this evening to help answer folks questions during the broadcast.

[00:13:21]Speaking of our channel members, uh, one other moderator as well, M. Teresa, joining us this evening. Glad you could be with us. Appreciate it. Our channel members here on YouTube help make this and every other live launch opportunity possible. So, big thanks to folks like Ken Urbanick, US Army Wife, Sulur for Lunch, Kim Ridley, Arkboy, and many, many others.

[00:13:54]Channel membership comes with a number of perks, including discounts at our online shop, which is shop.spaceflight.

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[00:14:16]And upper stage locks load is now underway on the Falcon 9 rocket.

[00:14:23]The count progressing quite nicely here this evening.

[00:14:28]The booster that is supporting today's mission uh previously advertised as B1071. At some point, SpaceX made the shift to instead using the booster with a tail number B1093.

[00:14:44]This will be its 13th trip to space and back. So, a far cry from being counted among the most frequently flown boosters for SpaceX.

[00:14:56]The company's working to certify its booster fleet up to 40 flights each.

[00:15:02]Same is true with the payload fairings as well.

[00:15:07]In fact, with the VIAT 3 F3 mission earlier today, one of those fairing halves flew for a 25th time, the other for its 18th time per SpaceX.

[00:15:32]Before we go ahead and start getting views of the actual Falcon 9 rocket itself, let's go ahead and take a beat to talk about SpaceX's most often flown vehicle, which tonight's launch, as mentioned earlier in the broadcast, will be SpaceX's 51st Falcon 9 launch of the year so far and its 633rd Falcon 9 launch to date.

[00:16:13]Falcon 9 is a launch vehicle stands 70 m or 229 ft in height and has diameter of 3.66 m or 12 feet. Majority of that of course comes from the rocket's first stage. Again, this is B 1093 flying this evening.

[00:16:32]At the base of the first stage are the nine Merlin engines which give the rocket its name. They burn rocket grade kerosene liquid oxygen producing 1.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

[00:16:44]Around the engine compartment are black carbon fiber landing links used to land the first stage on the drone ship. And above the first stage, of course, is the inner stage. This is a composite structure consisting of an aluminum honeycomb core which is surrounded by carbon fiber.

[00:17:01]In that image on the right hand side of your screen, you can see the deployable hypersonic grid fins. These are titanium winglets that provide stability and steering for the Falcon 9 as it comes back through the atmosphere. Tail first like a big old dart heading towards the drone ship. Of course, tonight SpaceX will use its one and only West Coast drone ship called of course I still love you. with the retirement of the drone ship called just read the instructions from here in Florida which per SpaceX will be used for the foreseeable future as a transport vessel for the Starship program. That means the east coast now relies on one drone ship as well called a shortfall of gravitas.

[00:17:51]Coming back to the interstage, at the top of this part of the rocket are three mechanical latches that attach to the vehicle's second stage and a first stage main engine cutoff. High-pressure helium is used to release those latches and four pneumatic pushers ensure a clean separation. Also, the second stage engine nozzle is safely housed inside the interstage adapter until the point of stage separation. Speaking of that upper stage, it is powered by a single modified Merlin engine called a Merlin vacuum engine or an MVAC engine. It's equipped with a large nozzle optimized for burns in the vacuum of space, hence the name. It produces more than 220,500 lb of thrust, and on today's flight, it will fire twice before the Starlink satellites are deployed. There will then be one final burn driving it back into the atmosphere where it's designed to burn up and help eliminate the risk of creating unnecessary space debris on this mission.

[00:18:56]Finally, at the top of the Falcon 9 stack are the payload fairings currently encapsulating the 24 Starlink satellites. The fairings are made up of a carbon composite material and stand 13.1 m or 43 feet in height and are 5.2 m or 17.1 ft in diameter.

[00:19:18]The two fairing halves will be recovered from the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

[00:19:23]They'll splash down a little bit further than where the drone where the booster lands on the drone ship.

[00:21:01]Time now t-minus 9 minutes 25 seconds in counting.

[00:21:06]Should be getting pad level views from SpaceX here in the next couple of minutes. As we are waiting that want to thank a few folks in the live chat for your support tonight.

[00:21:22]NDN Boogies been a channel member with us now at the pad leader level for three months. Thanks for your ongoing support.

[00:21:30]Also want to thank Mr. Cuban Fisherman for a $10 super chat. Thank you so much.

[00:21:37]Really appreciate that.

[00:21:44]Channel member Kim Ridley with a very generous $20 super chat. Thank you so much, Kim. really appreciate the support at that level.

[00:21:53]Cuban Mama jumps in with a $10 super chat saying, "I guess need to match Mr. Cuban fisherman."

[00:22:03]That's great.

[00:22:06]What also is great is we've got pad level views the Falcon 9 now.

[00:23:34]We'll uh come back to that once SpaceX is done with the ad here. Does contain some music.

[00:23:49]In the meantime, let's go ahead and take a beat to talk about the trajectory for today's Falcon 9 rocket launch.

[00:24:11]Rocket will be lifting off from Space Launch Complex 4 East there at Vandenberg Space Force Base. and will be flying on a largely southerntherly slightly southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad. Following stage separation, the first stage booster 1093 will then target a touchdown on the drone ship called of course I still love you. Landing is expected a little bit more than 8 minutes after liftoff.

[00:24:40]As mentioned, SpaceX wanting to recover not only the first stage booster, but also the payload fairings. They'll splash down in the waters of the Pacific Ocean under the support of steerable parachutes.

[00:24:56]Once down in the water, they'll be brought aboard a SpaceX recovery vessel like the one you see here on your screen, brought through the Port of Long Beach, then onto SpaceX facilities where they will be refurbished and turned around for future missions.

[00:25:34]Falcon 9 tanks are pressing for a strong back retract.

[00:26:04]Strong back retract has started.

[00:26:12]As you heard with that call, the retraction of the strong back is now getting underway.

[00:26:19]When SpaceX shifts to their closer view, you will be able to see the clamp arms opening up beneath the payload fairings.

[00:27:11]You can see the strong back now in motion away from the Falcon 9 rocket.

[00:27:17]Unlike launches from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center or pad 40 over at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Now that the strong back has reclined, it's roughly 13° away from the rocket. It'll stay in this position up to and through liftoff.

[00:27:35]>> Stage one lock is complete.

[00:27:38]>> And a good call there on the first stage liquid oxygen tank. Should hear a similar call regarding the upper stage locks tank around t-minus 2 minutes.

[00:28:45]Stage two lock is complete >> with that call. The Falcon 9 rocket fully loaded with 1 million pounds of propellant. Just starting to see the ground gas closeouts there as well.

[00:29:03]>> Ground gas closeouts.

[00:29:14]Coming up to the final minute of the count when the vehicle will enter into its automated startup.

[00:29:34]Falcon 9 is in startup >> and we are now just awaiting the SpaceX launch director to confirm that they are in fact go for launch. Should be coming in the next few seconds.

[00:29:52]Did not hear a go for launch >> call. Go for launch.

[00:29:55]>> Oh, spoke a moment too soon. Now we're going to go ahead and set back on our commentary. Watch along with you and see you on the other side. T-minus 30 seconds.

[00:30:17]Tminus 15 seconds.

[00:30:23]10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and lift off of Falcon 9. Go SpaceX. Go Starlin.

[00:30:42]>> Vehicle is pitching down range.

[00:30:49]And when the chamber pressures are nominal Power and telemetry nominal.

[00:31:27]>> Vehicle is supersonic.

[00:31:33]>> Now 1 minute into the flight. The Falcon 9 traveling faster than the speed of sound. Approaching max Q.

[00:31:40]>> Max Q.

[00:31:42]>> Good call there. rocket now throttling back up on the Merlin engines as it's passed through the point of greatest aerodynamic pressure on the vehicle.

[00:31:58]Approaching the next milestone of MVAC chill.

[00:32:05]>> MVAC chill.

[00:32:07]>> There's that. Good call there. the thermal conditioning of the Merlin vacuum engine on the rocket's upper stage. Coming up to a few events now in fairly rapid succession. You'll see first stage main engine cutoff or MCO at T plus 2 minutes and 27 seconds into the flight. That will be followed shortly by stage separation and then the ignition of that Merlin vacuum engine. The payload fairings will jettison right around the 3minut mark in flight.

[00:32:38]Getting a nice orbital sunset there as the Falcon 9 rocket continues to climb.

[00:32:51]Hopefully for folks on the ground getting some good views of this launch.

[00:33:01]You go.

[00:33:04]>> Stage separation confirmed.

[00:33:11]>> I'm back. Startup.

[00:33:22]Good calls, good visuals.

[00:33:25]The deployment of the hypersonic grid fins underway on the booster. Coming up to fairing separation momentarily.

[00:33:33]>> Fairing separation confirmed.

[00:33:43]>> And you got a nice view of one of those fairing halves falling back to Earth.

[00:33:48]Both will be recovered by one of SpaceX's vessels after they splash down in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

[00:33:56]They will be refurbished and turned around for future missions as SpaceX wants to reuse both its first stage boosters and payload fairings up to 40 times.

[00:34:51]Looks like the first stage booster tail number 1093 will top out today at 114 km in altitude. Now starting to make its descent towards the drone ship. Of course, I still love you.

[00:35:05]Little more than four and a half minutes into the mission, everything appears to be going smoothly for SpaceX today.

[00:35:11]Coming up next at about T plus 6 minutes and 10 seconds post liftoff will be the start of the three engine entry burn that will allow the booster 1093 to dramatically slow down as it makes its way back through the atmosphere.

[00:36:20]The pulses you're seeing occasionally between the grid fins are the cold gas thrusters.

[00:36:27]This helps the booster adjust its attitude or positioning as it >> stage one FDS is saved.

[00:36:33]>> Stage one entry burn start up >> as it sets up for start of the entry burn now underway. This will last less than half a minute in duration.

[00:36:58]>> Stage one, entry burn shutdown.

[00:37:02]>> And with the conclusion of the entry burn, booster now traveling just a little more than 5100 kilometers per hour.

[00:37:19]Coming up next will be the single engine landing burn that will take P1093 down to the drone ship.

[00:37:28]That burn set to start just a little before the 8 minute mark in flight. So we've got less than a minute till that engine start up.

[00:37:58]Stage one transic.

[00:38:09]Stage two FDS is saved.

[00:38:27]stage two is internal guidance.

[00:38:30]Stage one landing burn.

[00:38:45]>> Stage one landing leg deploy.

[00:38:54]Stage one landing confirmed.

[00:39:00]And a good landing out at C for B 1093.

[00:39:16]>> I'm back. Shut down.

[00:39:26]And a good conclusion, >> nominal orbit insertion.

[00:39:31]>> The upper stage engine burn and a good orbit insertion means that the upper stage of this Falcon 9 rocket will now coast until T + 52 minutes 54 seconds.

[00:39:43]There will be a 1 second burn to circularize its orbit. And the Starling satellites will be released at T + 1 hour 1 minute 46 seconds post liftoff.

[00:39:59]And with a good liftoff and landing of the first stage booster and the upper stage well on its way to deliver the Starlinks to their intended orbit, that'll just about do it for us here tonight. Going to go ahead and pop over to the mission stats as they currently stand. But just briefly want to thank a few folks for their support in the live chat. Thanks to channel member Skunk Hoger for being a member with us at the mission specialist level for 24 months now. Solid two years and they say best space channel around.

[00:40:36]Thanks for the coverage will mods and of course cumulus granatus and then ops back in again with a very generous $20 super chat. It says here's some coffee money will had a busy day. It's been a busy day for the full spaceflight now team. So really appreciate the uh support there. Though I think caffeine at this hour probably do more harm than good, but certainly will be put towards uh future caffeine funded use.

[00:41:07]Thanks as well to our newest channel member Rick Bolster joining us with membership at the pad leader level and Apocalypse Cow, one of our channel members gifting five memberships.

[00:41:19]Thank you Apocalypse. and a welcome aboard to our newest channel members.

[00:41:24]Turning to the mission stats, this was the 13th flight of Falcon booster 1093 marked SpaceX's 633rd Falcon 9 launch to date. The 52nd uh quick correction to that actually the this is the 52nd uh SpaceX orbital launch of the year.

[00:41:48]the 51st Falcon 9.

[00:41:53]Just to make a quick note on that, this was the 567th Falcon booster re-flight with a launch of a booster that has flown at least once. This was the company's 167th orbital launch within the last 365 days, the 169th orbital launch for SpaceX from pad 4 east. and the 265th overall orbital launch from this pad as well.

[00:42:20]Here's a look at the Falcon bar chart here, combining both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket launches. Moving on to some recovery stats. This was the 194th good touchdown on the drone ship called, of course, I still love you. It marked SpaceX's 500th drone ship landing, as a matter of fact, the 606th booster landing for the company and the 608th overall landing of an orbital class rocket. That includes, of course, Blue Origin's double landing or landing two times of the booster called Never Tell Me the Odds.

[00:43:02]Finally, with some industry stats, this was the 27th orbital launch from California this year, the 59th from US Soil, the 65th from US Rocket Company, and the 102nd orbital launch around the world. There have been six orbital mishaps, unfortunately, this year so far. Here's where the pie chart currently stands. looking to see that European number notch up by one more in the overnight hours tonight as an Arion 6 rocket is set to deliver 20 or excuse me 32 Amazon LEO satellites into low Earth orbit. So we wish the Arian 6 team down in French Gana well. Also well wishes to Amazon for a good deployment and a successful acquisition of signal for those uh nearly three dozen satellites.

[00:44:02]The deployment of SpaceX's Starling satellites from tonight's mission will be confirmed on their social channels a little bit more than an hour after liftoff here. So, those wanting to stay up late, that will be where the confirmation of that comes from.

[00:44:22]And what I can confirm to you folks is that's all she wrote. Want to thank all of you who have been with us for the coverage here tonight. Thanks to channel member Cumulus Granadus in the chat and to our wonderful moderators who have been helping us out in the live chat space as well.

[00:44:42]Big thanks to our Spaceflight Now editor Steven Young for running the technical operations of the broadcast tonight. And big thanks to you for wherever you've been watching from. As noted by Skunkhoger, it's been a very long day, so we're going to go ahead and hang up the spurs, if you'll allow the analogy.

[00:45:04]For all of us here at Spaceflight Now, I'm Will Robinson Smith. Remember, be good to yourselves, be good to others, and we will see you next time, folks.

[00:45:11]And until then, bye-bye.