(Cape Canaveral Space Force Station)- Liftoff! those were the words that were heard on the countdown net during a pre-dawn launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket roared to life at 3:13 AM est.
At T+1:15 seconds into flight Falcon 9 went through MAX-Q (maximum aerodynamic pressure). The main engine cutoff occurred around T+2:36 followed shortly by stage separation and fairing separation. The camera that was mounted on the first stage revealed a beautiful view of a dark Florida with the city lights visible.
Entry burn startup happened at T+6:31 into flight. At this point in the flight, the second stage was still lit and the only thing left to happen was landing burn startup. At T+8:11 landing burn startup was taking place slowing the rocket down enough to land on the drone ship, Just Read The Instructions. Finally at T+8:31, the Falcon 9 first stage had successfully made a landing on the drone ship positioned in the Atlantic.
The mission was not over quite yet. There were still a few events left in the timeline. The second engine cutoff occurred at T+8:56. The rocket went into a coasting phase. At around T+45 minutes, the second stage re-lit its engines for a few minutes. Nominal orbital insertion occurred followed by a successful deployment of the Starlink satellites. Marking a successful 20th mission for Starlink.
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