6 5 4

3

2 1 ignition

Engines full power and lift off of

Falcon 9. Go SpaceX. Go Starlink. To all

SpaceXers new and old, let's see what's

out there. Occupy Mars.

>> M 1 D chamber pressures are nominal.

>> SpaceX Starlink mission 10 and 54 on

Friday, June 12th at 8:27 a.m. Eastern

time, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched

29 Starlink satellites to low Earth

orbit from space launch complex 40 at

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in

Florida.

This was the 27th flight for the Falcon

9 first stage booster supporting this

mission, which previously launched AX-2,

Euclid, AX-3, CRS-30, SES-1, SES-2, One

P, NG-21, and 21 Starlink missions.

Following first stage separation, the

first stage booster landed on the A

Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship, which

was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Falcon 9 first stage incorporate nine

Merlin engines and aluminum lithium

alloy tanks containing liquid oxygen and

rocket grade kerosene propellant. Falcon

9 generate more than 1.7 million pounds

of thrust at the sea level. The nine

Merlin engines on the first stage are

gradually throttled near the end of the

first stage flight to limit the launch

vehicle acceleration as the rocket's

mass decreases with the burning of fuel.

These engines are also used to reorient

the first stage prior to re-entry and to

decelerate the vehicle for landing.

Merlin is a family of rocket engines

developed by SpaceX for use on its

Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy

launch vehicles. Merlin engines uses a

rocket grade kerosene propellant and

liquid oxygen as a rocket propellant in

a gas generator power cycle. The Merlin

engine was originally designed for

recovery and reuse. Merlin vacuum

features a larger exhaust section and a

significantly larger expansion nozzle to

maximize the engine's efficiency in the

vacuum of space. Its combustion chamber

is regeneratively cooled while the

expansion nozzle is radiatively cooled.

At full power, the Merlin vacuum engine

operates with the greatest efficiency

ever for an American mid-hydrocarbon

rocket engine.

The Falcon 9 first stage is equipped

with four landing legs made of

state-of-the-art carbon fiber with

aluminum honeycomb.

Placed symmetrically around the base of

the rocket, they are stubbed at the base

of the vehicle and deploy just prior to

landing.

The interstage is a composite structure

that connects first and the second

stages and houses the pneumatic pusher

that allow first and the second stage to

separate during flight.

Falcon 9 is equipped with four

hypersonic grid fins positioned at the

base of the interstage. They orient the

rocket during re-entry by moving center

of pressure.

The second stage, powered by a single

Merlin vacuum engine, delivers Falcon

9's payload to the desired orbit. The

second stage engine ignites a few

seconds after the stage separation and

can be restarted multiple times to place

multiple payloads into different orbits.

Made of carbon composite material, the

fairing protects satellites on their way

to orbit. The fairing is jettisoned

approximately 3 minutes into flight and

SpaceX continues to recover fairing for

reuse on its future missions.

All 29 Starlink satellites are

encapsulated in a 13.1 m high and 5.2 m

diameter fairing.

Later, SpaceX confirmed the deployment

of all 29 Starlink satellite launched on

its mission 10 and 54.

>> Stage two is entering terminal guidance.

Stage one landing burn.

Stage one landing leg deployed.

>> Stage two FCS is safe.

>> Stage one landing confirmed.