SpaceX launched 23 more of its Starlink satellites on Sunday (May 12), adding to its huge and ever-growing broadband megaconstellation.
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:53 p.m. EDT (0053 GMT on May 13).Â
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The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth about 8 minutes after launch, touching down on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
It was the 15th launch and landing for this particular first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description. Nine of its 14 liftoffs to date have been Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, carried the 23 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO), deploying them there about 65 minutes after liftoff.
Sunday’s launch was the 49th orbital mission of 2024 already for SpaceX. Thirty-three of this year’s 48 launches have been dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of about 5,900 working satellites.
That number will likely continue growing far into the future; SpaceX has permission to deploy 12,000 Starlink satellites in LEO and has applied for approval for another 30,000 on top of that.