SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink Internet satellites on Tuesday night (June 4), including 13 satellites that can beam the service directly to smartphones.
The Starlink spacecraft lifted off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida tonight at 10:16 PM EDT (0216 GMT June 5).
The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage returned to Earth about 8.5 minutes after launch as planned, landing on a SpaceX Just Read the Instructions drone in the Atlantic Ocean.
Related: Starlink Space Train: How to See and Track It in the Night Sky
Falcon 9 first stage lands on board Just Read the Instructions drone, completing first launch and landing this month pic.twitter.com/T42up3gKfhJune 5, 2024
This was the twentieth launch and landing of this particular booster, according to A SpaceX mission description. That’s just one number shy of the company’s reuse record, which it set when Starlink launched last month.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage continued to carry 20 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, where they were deployed about 52 minutes after liftoff.
So far in 2024, SpaceX has launched 58 orbital missions, 41 of which are dedicated to building out the massive and ever-growing Starlink constellation.
SpaceX is preparing for an even more dramatic launch this week, the fourth test flight of its massive Starship rocket. This highly anticipated mission is scheduled to launch from the company’s Starbase site in South Texas on Thursday morning (June 6).
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1:40 a.m. ET on June 5 with news of the successful launch, rocket landing, and satellite deployment.
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