SpaceX launched 23 of its Starlink web satellites from Florida on Sunday (March 10).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Area Drive Station at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT).
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The Falcon 9’s first stage got here again to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff. It made a vertical touchdown on the SpaceX droneship “Simply Learn the Directions,” which was stationed within the Atlantic Ocean.
It was the eleventh launch and touchdown for this specific booster, in line with a SpaceX mission description. 4 of its 10 flights so far have been Starlink missions.
The rocket’s higher stage, in the meantime, continued powering its method upward and was set to deploy the Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit about 65 minutes after launch.
This was the primary of two Starlink launches tonight, if all goes to plan. SpaceX goals to launch one other batch of the broadband satellites from California’s Vandenberg Area Drive Base at 10:13 p.m. EDT (0213 GMT on March 11).
SpaceX has launched 22 orbital missions already this yr, however many extra are within the offing: The corporate intends to launch 144 instances in 2024.
