SpaceX launched one other set of its Starlink web satellites from southern California on Saturday night (Feb 22).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Vandenberg Area Power Station at 8:38 p.m. EST (5:38 p.m. native time or 0138 GMT Feb. 23).
As to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage got here again to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff. It touched down on the drone ship “Of Course I Nonetheless Love You,” which was stationed within the Pacific Ocean.
It was the eleventh launch and touchdown for this specific booster, and its eighth Starlink mission general, in response to a SpaceX mission description.
The Falcon 9’s higher stage, in the meantime, continued to haul the Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO), the place there have been to be deployed about 62 minutes after liftoff.
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SpaceX has now launched 23 Falcon 9 missions in 2025, 17 of them Starlink flights.
The Starlink megaconstellation — the largest ever assembled — at present consists of greater than 7,000 operational spacecraft, according to astrophysicist and satellite tv for pc tracker Jonathan McDowell.
