SpaceX launched one other batch of its Starlink web satellites to orbit tonight (March 18).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft lifted off tonight from California’s Vandenberg Area Power Base at 10:28 p.m. EDT (7:28 p.m. native California time; 0228 GMT on March 19).
The Falcon 9’s first stage got here again to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff as deliberate. It landed vertically on the droneship “Of Course I Nonetheless Love You,” which was stationed within the Pacific Ocean.
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It was the tenth launch and touchdown for this specific booster, in response to a SpaceX mission description.
The Falcon 9’s higher stage, in the meantime, will proceed hauling the 22 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. They will be deployed there about 62.5 minutes after liftoff.
Tonight’s launch was the twenty sixth operational mission of 2024 for SpaceX. Seventeen of these flights have been dedicated to constructing out the Starlink broadband megaconstellation, which presently consists of greater than 5,500 satellites.
SpaceX has additionally performed one very high-profile check flight in 2024 — the March 14 launch of its Starship megarocket. That was the third check mission for Starship, which SpaceX is growing to assist humanity settle the moon and Mars.