After delays, SpaceX sends Falcon 9 into orbit early Wednesday on Starlink mission from Cape

After a trio of delays totaling more than 1? hours, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink satellites during an early morning Wednesday liftoff at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The rocket departed Launch Complex 40 at 1:40 a.m. EDT. SpaceX crews had initially set a 12:04 a.m. target launch time, but later pushed that back to 12:44 a.m. and 1:16 a.m. before finally settling on the 1:40 a.m. mark.

The night-owl Falcon 9 liftoff occurred less than 13 hours after United Launch Alliance launched the last Delta IV Heavy rocket into orbit on the NROL-70 national security mission from nearby Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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Wednesday's SpaceX Starlink 6-48 mission marked only the second flight for this Falcon 9 first-stage booster, SpaceX reported. Following stage separation, the booster — which previously launched Crew-8 — landed on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions out on the Atlantic Ocean.

The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron forecast had predicted 90% odds of favorable weather for Wednesday's SpaceX launch.

For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: After delays, SpaceX sends Falcon 9 into orbit early Wednesday from Cape