SpaceX F9 : Starlink v1.0 L13 : KSC LC-39A : October 18, 2020 (12:25 UTC)

[Steven Pietrobon]

One minute to second ignition.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Second ignition.

Nominal orbit insertion.

[Steven Pietrobon]

T+45 minutes.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Solid oxygen at the end of the vent.

Expected LOS Diego Garcia.

[Steven Pietrobon]

T+50 minutes. Heading into night.

[Steven Pietrobon]

AOS Tasmania.

[Steven Pietrobon]

One minute to separation.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Separation!

[Steven Pietrobon]

Starlinks are away.

Both fairings were caught, but one got caught in the corner (as we saw).

[Steven Pietrobon]

End of SpaceX coverage.

Congratulations to SpaceX and Starlink for the successful launch!

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Starlinks are away.

Both fairings were caught, but one got caught in the corner (as we saw).

Worth adding that although the corner of the net didn’t hold up & gave way, crew on the recovery ship are fine.

[scr00chy]

This launch broke several SpaceX records:

-Shortest time between LC-39A launches (12d 56m)
-Shortest time between static fire and launch (26h 25m)
-Most successful fairing catches in a row (3)

It was also the 70th successful SpaceX launch since the last failure (Amos-6 in September 2016).

More stats here: https://www.elonx.net/spacex-statistics/

[JJ starman]

Was the flare in the exhaust at T+9 anything of concern ?

[ZachS09]

Starlinks are away.

Both fairings were caught, but one got caught in the corner (as we saw).

Worth adding that although the corner of the net didn’t hold up & gave way, crew on the recovery ship are fine.

Does that mean that fairing that got caught in the corner fell into the water?

[kessdawg]

Starlinks are away.

Both fairings were caught, but one got caught in the corner (as we saw).

Worth adding that although the corner of the net didn’t hold up & gave way, crew on the recovery ship are fine.

Does that mean that fairing that got caught in the corner fell into the water?

There was a frame of it dangling in the net that leaked through during the coast phase. I'll try to go back and find it.

[DecoLV]

Here you go. It crashed through the corner.

[kdhilliard]

There was a frame of it dangling in the net that leaked through during the coast phase. I'll try to go back and find it.

T+00:38:13 through T+00:38:17
Here's a link to five seconds before that (for ease of rewind):
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UM8CDDAmp98&t=3188

Edit: Had some trouble with the time link -- tweaked.

[kessdawg]

You folks are too quick. Here's a gif I made while you beat me to it:

[gongora]

Was the flare in the exhaust at T+9 anything of concern ?

That bright spot doesn't move once it appears.  Just something on the camera lens.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Some launch photos from SpaceX (I assume by Ben Cooper)