SpaceX F9 : Starlink v1.0 L25 : KSC LC-39A : 4 May 2021 (1901 UTC)

[Herb Schaltegger]

Impressive to nail the bullseye like that...  And just a few seconds before, it almost looked like it was going to miss with the drone ship in the top corner of the image (although that was probably due to the approach angle)

Yep, it’s angle. Still had some horizontal velocity to kill as it was coming down, hence it looking like it was a goner 

Gotta account for prevailing winds during final descent.

[Mongo62]

Impressive to nail the bullseye like that...  And just a few seconds before, it almost looked like it was going to miss with the drone ship in the top corner of the image (although that was probably due to the approach angle)

Yep, it’s angle. Still had some horizontal velocity to kill as it was coming down, hence it looking like it was a goner 

So I wasn't the only one who was getting rather concerned at the sight of OCISLY in the upper left corner, making it look like B1049 was going to miss entirely?

[erv]

App update is available! 

I already saw that message on some recent flight, probably the previous Starlink launch.

[AstroDave]

  When I saw this viewpoint during the coverage my heart sank as I thought the booster was going to get wet. Would have really liked to have seen the video of the final decent as the booster ended up putting it right on the bullseye. Very impressive stuff!

Screenshot of SpaceX coverage:

[enzo]

After seeing an impressively backlit Crew-2 from the upper Georgia coast, thought I would try for a daytime Starlink. To my surprise, spotted the reentering booster briefly, which must have been about 150-200 miles away. Suggest those on the GA-SC coast reconsider what is possible in terms of launch viewing, at least for the higher inclination launches.

[Jansen]

SES-2 one second burn, nominal orbit insertion

[gongora]

You can see the white paint on the back (space facing) side of the satellites that they mentioned on the SpaceX webcast for the last mission.  On that mission the bottom satellites didn't have the paint.  Top pic is previous flight, bottom pic is current flight.

[abaddon]

Is that for better thermal management of the spacecraft, presumably?

[gongora]

Is that for better thermal management of the spacecraft, presumably?

That's what they said.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacecoast_stve/status/1389670150765490177

Falcon 9 lifts off from LC-39A with another batch of #Starlink satellites!

This was B1049’s ninth launch and landing! We could see a 10th flight as soon as Sunday with B1051!

Mission overview by @ChrisG_NSF and @TGMetsFan98: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/05/spacex-parallel-operations-starlink-l25/

[Jansen]

Payload deployment successful

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1389672850089418752

https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1389672919559819266

[Lars-J]

The webcast signs off with "May the 4th be with you" 

[Elvis in Space]

  When I saw this viewpoint during the coverage my heart sank as I thought the booster was going to get wet. Would have really liked to have seen the video of the final decent as the booster ended up putting it right on the bullseye. Very impressive stuff!

Screenshot of SpaceX coverage:

They come in at an offset until the landing burn begins just in case the landing burn doesn't.   

[WisRich]

  When I saw this viewpoint during the coverage my heart sank as I thought the booster was going to get wet. Would have really liked to have seen the video of the final decent as the booster ended up putting it right on the bullseye. Very impressive stuff!

Screenshot of SpaceX coverage:

After seeing how SpaceX hit the landing pad dead center, I'm a believer that SpaceX can maneuver the SS booster in close to the tower so it can be caught. Crazy stuff. 

[SpaceFinnOriginal]

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1389672850089418752

I thought this is 11th Starlink launch. At least people here counted 11 launches:
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/mcj4sq/starlink_general_discussion_and_deployment_thread/

Was it also, 100th booster landing attempt?

[gongora]

This was the 10th launch of the year where Starlink was the main payload.  There were also 10 Starlink sats on a rideshare.

[b.lorenz]

Has anyone else noticed that for a lot of the more recent starlink flights the clock shows t=0 at ignition and T+2 or 3 at liftoff? Obviously the rocket is lifting off on time but it seems like that's been happening a lot recently.

Well, it is really just a question of definition: Does the flight begin when the Merlins ignite, or when the clamps release?

Apparently they have decided that from an engineering standpoint the flight begins at ignition.

[Jansen]

Was it also, 100th booster landing attempt?

100th straight Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets without an in-flight mission failure.

[r8ix]

Has anyone else noticed that for a lot of the more recent starlink flights the clock shows t=0 at ignition and T+2 or 3 at liftoff? Obviously the rocket is lifting off on time but it seems like that's been happening a lot recently.

Well, it is really just a question of definition: Does the flight begin when the Merlins ignite, or when the clamps release?

Apparently they have decided that from an engineering standpoint the flight begins at ignition.

IIRC (doubtful, I was very young), on Saturn, it was "3, 2, 1, 0, Ignition, Liftoff", but on Shuttle it was more like "3, (Main Engine Ignition), 2, 1, 0, SRB Ignition, Liftoff".