Falcon 9 Vandenberg Starlink Launch Trajectory & Deployment Simulator

Flight Operations Deck ACTIVE SIM

MISSION ELAPSED TIME

T+00:00

PAD TERMINAL COUNT

Altitude

0.0 km

Inertial Speed

0 km/h

Downrange

0.0 km

Dynamic Press (Q)

0.0 kPa

Mach Number

M 0.00

Orbital Inclination

70.0° Polar

STAGE 1 (B1082) 100.0%

STAGE 2 (MVac-D) 100.0%

Throttle: 100% G-Force: 1.00 G

Mission Hardware Identity SLC-4E

Booster Re-flight	Flight 14 (Titanium Grid Fins)
Recovery Target	ASDS "Of Course I Still Love You"
Payload	27x Starlink V2 Mini Satellites
Orbit Regime	286 x 296 km Polar LEO (70.0°)

Payload & Timeline Deck 0 / 27 DEPLOYED

27-STARLINK FLAT-PACK STACK Retention: SECURED

Stack Mass: 21,600 kg Sep Rel Vel: 0.0 m/s

MISSION MILESTONES Click event to scrub

CURRENT FLIGHT STAGE DYNAMICS

Vehicle on Launch Complex 4E pad. Merlin 1D propellant conditioning and strongback retract complete.

ENGINEERING & ORBITAL TRAJECTORY NOTES: VANDENBERG POLAR STARLINK DELIVERIES

1. Polar Dogleg & Range Safety Azimuth: Launches from Vandenberg SLC-4E head south-southeast across the Santa Barbara Channel at approximately 158° to 162° azimuth. This trajectory skirts east of San Nicolas and Santa Barbara Islands before entering the open Pacific corridor down the Baja California coast, fulfilling strict USSF Space Launch Delta 30 public safety corridors.

2. ASDS "Of Course I Still Love You": Due to the high payload mass of 27 Starlink satellites (over 21 metric tons total), Stage 1 (B1082) executes an ASDS downrange drone ship landing approximately 640 km south-southeast off the coast of Baja California rather than a Return To Launch Site (RTLS) boostback.

3. Tension-Rod Stack Deployment: Unlike traditional payload dispensers using pyrotechnic clamps, Starlink satellites are deployed via rotating retention bars. At T+64:00, 4 titanium tension rods release simultaneously. Second stage attitude thrusters initiate a gentle pitch rate, causing all 27 satellites to fan out with progressive millimeter-per-second differential velocities without space debris collision risk.