By On Tuesday night, at 11:38 p.m. EDT, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It was carrying 22 of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, which were destined for low Earth orbit.
After just 8.5 minutes from liftoff, the rocket’s first stage made a remarkable return to Earth, safely landing on a SpaceX drone ship stationed at sea. This achievement marked the 17th successful liftoff and landing for this particular Falcon 9 first stage, setting a new record, surpassing the previous record of 16 flights held by two different Falcon 9 boosters.
About 62.5 minutes after the launch, the Falcon 9’s upper stage successfully deployed the 22 Starlink satellites, as planned. These satellites are part of SpaceX’s ambitious project to create the Starlink mega constellation, which aims to provide global broadband internet coverage. Currently, there are more than 4,700 operational satellites in orbit as part of this project.
Before this mission, the Falcon 9 first stage had already launched 11 previous Starlink missions, along with other missions like GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34, and Transporter-6.
This successful mission once again demonstrates SpaceX’s ability to reuse rocket boosters, making space launches more cost-effective and sustainable. With each triumph, SpaceX gets closer to its vision of revolutionizing global connectivity through its Starlink satellite network.
The nighttime launch from Cape Canaveral marked the 50th launch from the Space Coast in the current year, showcasing the continued activity and progress in space exploration.
