SpaceX launched another 52 of its Starlink internet satellites into orbit on Saturday evening (September 24) and also managed to land a rocket at sea.
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 52 Starlink The spacecraft lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday at 19:32 EDT (23:32 GMT).
Just under nine minutes later, the first stage of the Falcon 9 returned to Earth for a spot landing on SpaceX’s “droneship” A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the fourth takeoff and landing for this particular thruster, according to a SpaceX mission description (opens in a new tab).
Related: SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation launches in photos
The Falcon 9 upper stage deployed all 52 Starlinks 15.5 minutes after liftoff as planned, SpaceX confirmed via Twitter (opens in new tab).
Saturday’s launch continues construction of SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation, which provides Internet service to people around the world. The company has now launched nearly 3,400 Starlink satellites and plans to launch thousands more.
Starting next year, SpaceX will begin launching Starlink version 2 satellites, which will be much larger and more capable than the current iteration. The V2 spacecraft will be able to beam connectivity directly to smartphones, and will do so for T-Mobile customers through a project called “Coverage above and beyond”, founder and CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk announced last month.
SpaceX plans to launch Starlink V2 batches aboard its massive new generation spaceship vehicle, which will also carry cargo and people to the Moon and Mars, if all goes according to plan. Starship’s first orbital test flight ‘highly likely’ to occur in NovemberMusk said recently.
Saturday’s launch was SpaceX’s 43rd orbital mission of 2022, adding to the company’s single-year launch record. SpaceX’s previous high for launches in a year was 31, achieved in 2021.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:55 p.m. EDT on September 24 with news of the successful launch, landing of rockets and deployment of satellites.
Mike Wall is the author of “Over there (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new tab). follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) or enabled Facebook (opens in a new tab).