SpaceX orbits Starlink satellites in pre-dawn launch
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches 53 Starlink satellites into orbit. This was the 12th flight for first stage core B1058. Credit: Theresa Cross / Spaceflight Insider
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 53 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit at 5:42 a.m. EDT 09:42 UTC) May 6, 2022, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This morning’s pre-dawn flight was also the 12th reuse record-tying launch of a Falcon 9 first stage booster for the company. Only two other boosters have reached this milestone.
The first stage, core B1058 landed as expected on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” stationed 390 miles (629 kilometers) downrange of liftoff.
Eleven out of 18 SpaceX launches have been devoted to Starlink so far in 2022, with more than 2,400 satellites launched to date.
This is the 14th launch to Starlink Shell 4. Approximately 30 launches in total are required to fill this shell.
Credit: Theresa Cross / Spaceflight Insider
Credit: Theresa Cross / Spaceflight Insider
Video courtesy of SpaceX
Theresa Cross
Theresa Cross grew up on the Space Coast. It’s only natural that she would develop a passion for anything “Space” and its exploration. During these formative years, she also discovered that she possessed a talent and love for defining the unique quirks and intricacies that exist in mankind, nature, and machines. Hailing from a family of photographers—including her father and her son, Theresa herself started documenting her world through pictures at a very early age. As an adult, she now exhibits an innate photographic ability to combine what appeals to her heart and her love of technology to deliver a diversified approach to her work and artistic presentations. Theresa has a background in water chemistry, fluid dynamics, and industrial utility.
