SpaceX Launches Starlink 4-9 with 47 more Starlink Satellites

Falcon 9 lifts off from Pad 39A with Starlink 4-9 | Credit: SpaceX

On Thursday, March 3 at 9:35am ET (14:35 UTC), SpaceX launched Starlink Group 4 Launch 9 with 47 more Starlink v1.5 satellites atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Starlink is SpaceX's high-speed low-latency satellite internet designed to provide internet service, particularly to people in remote areas. Starlink has three versions: Starlink v1, Starlink v1.5 which has laser terminals, and Starlink v2 which will launch on Starship. Starlink also has 8 shells or groups (1 v1, 4 v1.5, and 3 v2) which must be all complete by 2027. The first stage for this mission (B1060), which previously flew on GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter 2, and 7 Starlink missions, landed on the "Just Read the Instructions" drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 23rd orbital launch attempt of 2022, 152nd SpaceX mission, and the 144th Falcon 9 launch.