SpaceX launched a rocket carrying 53 satellites for the Starlink internet constellation from California on Saturday. The deployment of all 53 satellites was completed less than an hour after launch.
The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida at 2:10 a.m. on Saturday, returning to Earth and landing at sea about 8.5 minutes after liftoff aboard SpaceX’s “Just Read the Instructions” drone ship.
The launch on May 14 marks the second Starlink mission within a few days for SpaceX. Prior to that, the company used another Falcon 9 to launch 53 of the broadband spacecraft from Vandenberg, California, on May 13, and also acted its touchdown on a drone ship off Baja California.
Saturday’s launch and landing marks the fifth stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which SpaceX officials say is a brand new rocket with no previous space missions.
According to SpaceX, Starlink, the company’s satellite internet constellation, is now available in 32 countries worldwide.
The sources for this piece include an article in SPACE.
