SpaceX launched 20 Starlink Internet satellites from California early Friday morning (May 10), including 13 satellites with direct-to-cell capability.
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Starlink vehicle lifted off from Space Force Base Vandenberg on Friday at 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT; 9:30 p.m. May 9, California local time). SpaceX had originally planned to launch the mission on Wednesday night (May 8) but backed out of that attempt.
The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage returned to Earth about 8 minutes after launch as planned, landing on SpaceX’s Of Course I Still Love You drone, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
Related: Starlink Space Train: How to See and Track It in the Night Sky
This was the fourth launch and landing of this particular first stage, according to A SpaceX mission description.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage continued to carry Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO), and eventually Post them There about 61.5 minutes after liftoff.
SpaceX just launched its Starlink mission on Wednesday, sending 23 satellites into low Earth orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Back-to-back launches are nothing new for SpaceX these days. On March 30, for example, the company launched two missions — a Starlink boost and a Eutelsat 36D communications satellite — less than four hours apart, both from Florida’s Space Coast.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:30 a.m. ET on May 9 with news of the new target’s launch date on May 9, and then again at 2 a.m. ET on May 10 with news of the successful launch, landing of the rocket, and satellite deployment.
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