SpaceX’s 27th launch of the year occurred Thursday, April 27, 2023, lofting another batch of 46 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 6:40 AM PDT (13:40 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This was the third launch attempt of this mission.
The mission, Starlink Group 3-5, marks the resumption of Starlink Group 3 flights to sun-synchronous orbit, which started in the summer of 2022 and were paused after only four flights. This shell provides coverage to the polar regions. This launch also marked SpaceX’s 40th flight from SLC-4E.
The booster, B1061, flew for a 13th time, becoming the fifth booster to fly that many times. Its landing occurred on the deck of SpaceX’s Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY), stationed 634 km downrange in the Pacific Ocean.