
SpaceX launched 25 of its Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites from California on Sunday morning.
The Starlink 17-20 mission sent the broadband satellites into a polar low Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a southerly trajectory upon leaving Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 9:30 a.m. PST (12:30 p.m. EST / 1730 UTC).
SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1097. This was its sixth flight after launching Sentinel-6B, the Twilight ride share and three batches of Starlink satellites.
Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1097 landed on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This was the 173rd landing on this vessel and the 563rd booster landing for SpaceX to date.
