SpaceX F9 : Starlink 8-1 : VSFB SLC-4E : 6/7 April 2024 (02:25 UTC)

[catdlr]

And it looks like Stage 2 has a Mission Extension Kit installed, hence the gray band on the bottom half.

Wonder why. 

Also wondering what 1081 will look like upon return.

 - Ed Kyle

What does B1081 have to do with the MEK? The MEK is installed on the RP-1 tank of Stage 2, which I'm not sure if it did something else after payload separation.

Nothing.  Two separate thoughts.  I'm wondering about 1081 because when we last saw it after landing it was on fire and SpaceX abruptly cut its feed.

 - Ed Kyle

Ed I saw that and wonder about that too.  My photographer contact who records all the boosters coming into the port has left so I won't be able to verify how it looks.

[edkyle99]

Ed I saw that and wonder about that too.  My photographer contact who records all the boosters coming into the port has left so I won't be able to verify how it looks.

Looks like OCISLY is off San Diego now, coming straight in toward Long Beach, so not behaving like there are any problems.
[EDIT] Looks like she arrived Long Beach later during the day on April 8.

 - Ed Kyle

[ZachS09]

I’m sure B1081 is fine. That fire is NOTHING compared to B1042 after it helped launch Koreasat 5A.

[realnouns]

Go Beyond returned to PoLB on Apr 8 @ 11:23am PT / 2:23pm ET

[catdlr]

This video incorporates videos shot from SpaceX, Santa Barbara, and San Diego.  The San Diego view 370 km down range (main screen) provides our first video coverage of the F9 Entry Burn as it heads to the Barge off the coast of Baja.

[realnouns]

Lindsay C + OCISLY + B1081 returned to PoLB on Apr 8 @ 5:27pm PT / 8:27pm ET

[edkyle99]

Guess we will have to wait to see the B1081 turnaround time to see if the fire was a thing or nothing.

 - Ed Kyle

[catdlr]

Guess we will have to wait to see the B1081 turnaround time to see if the fire was a thing or nothing.

 - Ed Kyle

the actual turnaround time also depends on the barge travel and departure date from LB to VSFB.  Since the wait for two cores to send a barge, B1081 could be waiting until the next flight, or the barge is waiting for this core to shove off.

[catdlr]

Lindsay C + OCISLY + B1081 returned to PoLB on Apr 8 @ 5:27pm PT / 8:27pm ET

Realsnouns,
Wanted to ask if you could add to your task the following:

Is it possible for you to identify the barge that hauls the cores and farings from LB to VSFB and do tracking for us?

We appreciate your effort with the tracking you do.

Best
Ton y

[shiro]

Some reusability stats for this launch (Starlink Group 8-1):

Booster B1081.6 turnaround time:
33 days 4 hours 20 minutes
(its previous mission was Transporter-10 on Mar 4, 2024 UTC).

FYI: median turnaround time for Falcon 9 / Heavy boosters is currently 49.85 days *
* – based on the last 30 launches, excluding new first stages.

Launchpad SLC-4E turnaround time:
4 days 23 hours 55 minutes
(the previous launch from this pad was Starlink Group 7-18 on Apr 2, 2024 UTC).

It's the fastest turnaround ever for SLC-4E launchpad.
The previous record was 5 days 5 hours 22 minutes between Starlink Group 7-11 and Starlink Group 7-12 launches in January, 2024.

FYI: median turnaround time for SLC-4E is currently 10.97 days *
* – based on the last 30 launches.

The same type of stats for previous SpaceX launches may be found on this spreadsheet online.