SpaceX launched another large batch of its Starlink internet satellites into orbit and landed a ship aboard a rocket at sea on Tuesday (August 9).
two stages Falcon 9 Missile topped with 52 starlink The spacecraft took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday at 10:14 p.m. EDT (0214 GMT on Aug. 10).
Less than nine minutes after launch, the first stage of the Falcon 9 returned to Earth for a vertical landing aboard SpaceX’s A Shortfall of Gravitas drone, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.
Meanwhile, Falcon 9’s upper stage continued to make its way into low Earth orbit, eventually deploying Starlink satellites as planned about 15 minutes after liftoff. SpaceX confirmed via Twitter (Opens in a new tab).
Related: Starlink megaconstellation from SpaceX is launched in pictures
Starlink is a huge Internet group for SpaceX, which broadcasts broadband service to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Now owned by Elon Musk Launched more than 3,000 Starlink satellites (Opens in a new tab) to orbit, but more likely to go up; SpaceX has permission to release 12,000 upper decks of the vehicle and has applied for approval to launch an additional 30,000 on top of that.
Tonight’s launch was the company’s 21st Starlink mission of 2022 and its 35th orbital flight of the year overall, adding to a record for SpaceX. The company’s previous mark for most orbital missions in one year was 31, set in 2021.
Reusing rockets is a big priority for SpaceX, which it sees as a breakthrough that will help make colonization of Mars possible.
The first stage of Falcon 9 that flew on Tuesday had already seen two spaceflights under its belt, According to the description of the mission of SpaceX (Opens in a new tab). This is impressive, but far from SpaceX’s record; Three different Falcon 9 boosters launched 13 orbital missions so far.
The Starlink launch was part of a very busy day for SpaceX. Also today, the company conducted “stationary fire” engine tests at its South Texas facility With Booster 7 and Ship 24prototypes of its own deep space transportation system.
SpaceX is preparing for the Booster 7 and Ship 24 for the first orbital test flight of the Starship program, which the company aims to launch in the coming months.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:20pm EST on August 9 to include webcast information and to correct the expected satellite deployment time (to approximately 15 minutes after liftoff, rather than an hour). Updated again at 10:43PM EDT with news of the successful launch, landing and static fire tests of the Booster 7 and Ship 24.
Mike Wall is the author of “Abroad (Opens in a new tab)Book (Great Grand Publishing House, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book on the search for extraterrestrials. Follow him on Twitter Tweet embed (Opens in a new tab). Follow us on Twitter Tweet embed (Opens in a new tab) or on Facebook (Opens in a new tab).
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