SpaceX launched one other batch of its Starlink web satellites from California at this time (Might 16).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 26 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Vandenberg Area Drive Base, on the Golden State’s foggy central coast, at this time at 9:43 a.m. EDT (1343 GMT; 6:43 a.m. native California time).
Just a little over eight minutes later, the Falcon 9’s first stage got here again to Earth as deliberate, touching down on the SpaceX drone ship “Of Course I Nonetheless Love You,” which was stationed within the Pacific Ocean.
It was the second liftoff and touchdown for this specific booster, according to SpaceX. The stage’s different mission was additionally a Starlink flight.
The Falcon 9’s higher stage, in the meantime, continued carrying the 26 Starlink satellites towards low Earth orbit (LEO), the place they had been deployed on schedule 62.5 minutes after liftoff.
At this time’s launch was the 59th Falcon 9 flight of 2025. Forty-two of these missions have been devoted to assembling the Starlink community, the biggest satellite tv for pc constellation ever constructed.
There are practically 7,500 operational Starlink craft in LEO in the mean time, according to astrophysicist and satellite tv for pc tracker Jonathan McDowell, and the quantity is rising on a regular basis.
