SpaceX F9 : Starlink group 15-10 : VSFB SLC-4E : 1/2 December 2025 (05:28 UTC)

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Thread for the Starlink Group 15-10 launch.

Launch 2 December 2025, at 05:28:20 UTC (1 December 9:28 pm PST), from Vandenberg SLC-4E, on booster 1081-20. The first stage has landed aboard Of Course I Still Love You.

Payload 27 Starlink V2.0 Mini satellites, to a 70.01 degrees inclination orbit on a southeastern trajectory.  Initial orbit 255 x 270 km.

Please use the Starlink Discussion Thread for all general discussion on Starlink.

Check the Starlink Index Thread for links to more Starlink information.


L2 SpaceX: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=60.0

[Galactic Penguin SST]

More confusion on the West Coast Falcon launch schedules for the West Coast with the 70° inclination Group 15 Starlinks getting more satellites again next week, per CADENA OIS:

Primary Launch Day 25 NOV 1858Z-2340Z Backup Launch Day 26 NOV 1845Z-2327Z Backup Launch Day 27 NOV 1831Z-2313Z Backup Launch Day 28 NOV 1817Z-2259Z Backup Launch Day 29 NOV 1803Z-2245Z Backup Launch Day 30 NOV 1749Z-2231Z Backup Launch Day 01 DEC 1735Z-2217Z

[raptorx2]

It also should be noted that SpaceX appears to be launching to the 97 degree shell to actually build equatorial capacity for the launch of India/equatorial regions.

Here is a snip of the 12 current Group 17 launches which contain Gen. 2 Hardware.   

[raptorx2]

Current flight formation of Group 15

[DanClemmensen]

It also should be noted that SpaceX appears to be launching to the 97 degree shell to actually build equatorial capacity for the launch of India/equatorial regions.

What do you mean, exactly? The satellites in those planes of course cross all latitudes below 83 degrees, but the planes are progressively further apart in distance as latitude decreases. High-inclination orbits are used to cover high-latitude users in spite of the fact that they are poor at covering lower-latitude users. That's OK, because the lower-latitudes users are well-supported by the lower inclination orbits. Satellites in the high inclination orbits are still used to augment the lower-inclination satellites when they are at low latitudes.

[raptorx2]

The satellite density for a given area is far greater in the equatorial regions than the  polar regions in the format they are being deployed.  They are planning to launch another 575 V2 Mini's into the 97.6 degree shells in the next six months.  Combined with the Group 17's launches earlier will have more satellites launched into the 97.6 shell than Direct to Cell Satellites launched to date.

[DanClemmensen]

The satellite density for a given area is far greater in the equatorial regions than the  polar regions in the format they are being deployed.

The density provided by satellites in high-inclination orbits is far greater at higher latitudes. Starlink gets higher densities at lower latitudes by placing most of their satellites on lower-inclination orbits.

Thanks you for providing those maps. However, please be aware that mercator-projection maps distort the area. A lot of school kids think Greenland is about the size of Africa.

[raptorx2]

Same application.  660 satellites at 53/43 (DTC).  Spacing at equator is much further apart

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Delayed to November 30 UTC per latest CADENA OIS update:

Primary Launch Day 30 NOV 0259Z-0741Z Backup Launch Day 30 NOV 1749Z-2231Z Backup Launch Day 01 DEC 1735Z-2217Z Backup Launch Day 02 DEC 1721Z-2203Z Backup Launch Day 03 DEC 1707Z-2149Z Backup Launch Day 04 DEC 1653Z-2135Z Backup Launch Day 05 DEC 1640Z-2122Z

[AndrewM]

Visible on the FAA advisory now as well.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-15-10

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is targeting the launch of 27 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the X TV app.

This is the 20th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, EarthCARE, NROL-186, Transporter-13, TRACERS, NROL-48, and 10 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

There is the possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.

[Steven Pietrobon]

PDF of online press kit.

[zubenelgenubi]

https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/
Supplemental GP Element Sets
Current as of 2025 Nov 29 04:37:59 UTC (Day 333)

Starlink G15-10 Pre-Launch   
Derived from a pre-launch Starlink-G15-10 state vector, provided by SpaceX. SupGP data is provided for the entire stack, as well as one for a single satellite.
Launch: 2025-12-02 02:55:00 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 03:57:03.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 02:55:00 UTC to 2025-12-02 02:57:19 UTC.

Backup Launch Opportunity #1   
Launch: 2025-12-02 03:02:50 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 04:04:53.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 03:02:50 UTC to 2025-12-02 03:09:49 UTC.

Backup Launch Opportunity #2   
Launch: 2025-12-02 03:24:40 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 04:26:43.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 03:24:40 UTC to 2025-12-02 03:29:29 UTC.

Backup Launch Opportunity #3   
Launch: 2025-12-02 05:28:20 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 06:30:23.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 05:28:20 UTC to 2025-12-02 05:30:59 UTC.

Backup Launch Opportunity #4   
Launch: 2025-12-02 06:02:40 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 07:04:43.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 06:02:40 UTC to 2025-12-02 06:03:39 UTC.

https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/table.php?FILE=starlink-g15-10&FORMAT=tle
Pre-Launch Derived Orbit:
255 km x 270 km x 70.01 deg

[catdlr]

Here is a consolidated post of available video links for this launch:

SpaceX's direct live broadcast on
Website:  https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-15-10
 Twitter:  https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1zqKVdMDMpMJB

SpaceX Re-broadcast alternatives on YouTube: 
Space Affairs:  https://youtube.com/watch?v=fyUNrzkq9nc

There is no planned NSF Live coverage. Alternate Pre-Launch Coverage:  https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceflightNowVideo/streams

Replay supplied by The Space Devs (15 min after the broadcast end):  https://youtube.com/@thespacedevs/videos

Summary Video provided by SciNews (15 min after the broadcast ends):  https://youtube.com/@SciNewsRo/videos

Launch Ground Video:  https://bensweather.com/

Fleet Booster Number:  https://twitter.com/BoosterSpX

[catdlr]

Should this launch proceed according to the first or second scheduled opportunities, I may not be able to return home in time to cover it. However, I anticipate being able to provide coverage, either in real-time or retrospectively, for subsequent launch opportunities.

[xyv]

Is this launch actually possible on this schedule? I combined a bike ride with at stop at Hawks Nest yesterday to catch what I hoped was an RTL because it was a transporter and those are difficult to load down enough to require a down range landing.  Needless to say I was dissapointed but what is the minimum turnaround time for the barge to get to Long Beach and back to the landing area?

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Is this launch actually possible on this schedule? I combined a bike ride with at stop at Hawks Nest yesterday to catch what I hoped was an RTL because it was a transporter and those are difficult to load down enough to require a down range landing.  Needless to say I was dissapointed but what is the minimum turnaround time for the barge to get to Long Beach and back to the landing area?

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:8988811
It's still on its way back
However IIRC there were records on the West Coast of OCISLY getting from POLB to the landing zone for a Starlink launch on a single day so don't write this off just yet (especially with the 4 hours launch window).

[catdlr]

Is this launch actually possible on this schedule? I combined a bike ride with at stop at Hawks Nest yesterday to catch what I hoped was an RTL because it was a transporter and those are difficult to load down enough to require a down range landing.  Needless to say I was dissapointed but what is the minimum turnaround time for the barge to get to Long Beach and back to the landing area?

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:8988811
It's still on its way back
However IIRC there were records on the West Coast of OCISLY getting from POLB to the landing zone for a Starlink launch on a single day so don't write this off just yet (especially with the 4 hours launch window).

I've seen one launch that the OCISLY got there with 30 seconds to spare. Now I wonder whether the launch creep (i.e., later opportunities) on many of these flights was due to a late-arriving barge?

[zubenelgenubi]

Now backup opportunity #3 as per https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-15-10:

https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/
Supplemental GP Element Sets
Current as of 2025 Nov 29 04:37:59 UTC (Day 333)

Starlink G15-10 Pre-Launch   
Derived from a pre-launch Starlink-G15-10 state vector, provided by SpaceX. SupGP data is provided for the entire stack, as well as one for a single satellite.
Launch: 2025-12-02 02:55:00 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 03:57:03.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 02:55:00 UTC to 2025-12-02 02:57:19 UTC.

Backup Launch Opportunity #1   
Launch: 2025-12-02 03:02:50 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 04:04:53.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 03:02:50 UTC to 2025-12-02 03:09:49 UTC.

Backup Launch Opportunity #2   
Launch: 2025-12-02 03:24:40 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 04:26:43.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 03:24:40 UTC to 2025-12-02 03:29:29 UTC.

Backup Launch Opportunity #3   
Launch: 2025-12-02 05:28:20 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 06:30:23.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 05:28:20 UTC to 2025-12-02 05:30:59 UTC.

Backup Launch Opportunity #4   
Launch: 2025-12-02 06:02:40 UTC.
Deploy: 2025-12-02 07:04:43.520 UTC.
Launch window: 2025-12-02 06:02:40 UTC to 2025-12-02 06:03:39 UTC.

Hmmm...

I've seen one launch that the OCISLY got there with 30 seconds to spare. Now I wonder whether the launch creep (i.e., later opportunities) on many of these flights was due to a late-arriving barge?

[catdlr]

Updated Alternative Coverage link

Here is a consolidated post of available video links for this launch:

SpaceX's direct live broadcast on
Website:  https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-15-10
 Twitter:  https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1zqKVdMDMpMJB

SpaceX Re-broadcast alternatives on YouTube: 
Space Affairs:  https://youtube.com/watch?v=fyUNrzkq9nc

There is no planned NSF Live coverage. Alternate Pre-Launch Coverage:  https://youtube.com/watch?v=N6PwkY9JLmM

Replay supplied by The Space Devs (15 min after the broadcast end):  https://youtube.com/@thespacedevs/videos

Summary Video provided by SciNews (15 min after the broadcast ends):  https://youtube.com/@SciNewsRo/videos

Launch Ground Video:  https://bensweather.com/

Fleet Booster Number:  https://twitter.com/BoosterSpX