SpaceX launched one more batch of its Starlink broadband satellites to orbit immediately (Dec. 13).
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 22 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base immediately at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2155 GMT; 1:55 p.m. native time in California).
The Falcon 9’s first stage got here again to Earth as deliberate, touching down on the SpaceX drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” about eight minutes after liftoff.
It was the ninth liftoff and landing for this explicit booster, in keeping with a SpaceX mission description. Seven of these 9 flights have been Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s higher stage, in the meantime, will deploy the 22 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit 60 minutes after launch.
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SpaceX has launched greater than 120 Falcon 9 missions up to now in 2024. Nearly 70% of them have been devoting to constructing out the Starlink megaconstellation, which at present consists of greater than 6,800 operational spacecraft.
