Keep up the fast pace of SpaceX launches.
The business launched a second batch of twenty-three Starlink internet satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday, March 4, at 6:56 p.m. ET (2356 GMT). The rocket booster returned to Earth around eight minutes after takeoff, landing on SpaceX’s droneship named “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” Offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, the ship was waiting.
In less than a day, three Falcon 9 rocket launches took place: the mission launched on schedule, and SpaceX launched the Transporter-10 ridesharing mission on Monday at 5:05 p.m. ET. The company’s successful Crew-8 human mission launch to the International Space Station on Sunday, March 3, is largely responsible for the third.
This specific Falcon 9 first stage booster flew thirteen times, the most recent one being on Monday’s Starlink mission. The rocket has flown on several private launches, such as ispace’s Hakuto-R lunar lander mission, eight other Starlink missions, and the CRS-27 resupply mission to the ISS.
It was the twenty-first Falcon 9 flight for SpaceX in 2024. It also signified 281 landings of the Falcon 9 booster with success.
Prior to this mission, SpaceX had launched 23 more Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station into space on February 29, Leap Day. SpaceX has started launching Starlink satellites more often.
The corporation is constructing a gigantic megaconstellation of Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit to offer high-speed, wireless internet connection for both general consumer use and deployment in disaster or war zones worldwide.
With authorization to launch up to 12,000 satellites, the business presently has more than 5,000 operational Starlink spacecraft in orbit.