In the early morning of Monday (December 23), SpaceX launched 21 Starlink network satellites from Florida’s Space Coast and landed the return rocket on a ship at sea.
one Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink The spacecraft, one of 13 capable of sending services directly to mobile phones, lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:35 a.m. ET (0535 GMT) today.
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth as planned, landing in the Atlantic Ocean about eight minutes after launch. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation Drone “Just read the instructions.”
According to an official, this is the 15th liftoff and landing of the booster. SpaceX mission statement. Eight of those were Starlink missions.
Falcon 9’s upper stage continues to tow 21 Starlink satellites low earth orbit, They will be deployed there approximately 65 minutes after launch.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
Monday morning’s Starlink launch was the 129th Falcon 9 mission in 2024. About two-thirds of those flights are dedicated to building the Starlink broadband megaconstellation, currently operated by More than 6,800 active satellites.