SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink Internet satellites from Florida on Wednesday (July 3) following a two-hour delay.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 live-cell capable, lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 UTC) Wednesday. A three-hour window for liftoff opened at 2:57 a.m. EDT (0601 GMT), while the launch was delayed due to technical issues.
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after launch. It will touch the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” docked in the Atlantic Ocean.
Related: SpaceX unveils new Starlink Mini antenna for internet users on the go
Wednesday’s liftoff was the 16th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to SpaceX mission description. Ten of its 15 flights to date are Starlink missions.
Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, towed 20 satellites into low-Earth orbit, where they were positioned 61 minutes after liftoff.
Falcon 9 will launch 20 @Starlink satellites into orbit from Florida, including 13 with live cell capability. These satellites act as cell phone towers in space, eliminating deadzones without phone modifications or special applications pic.twitter.com/DXTaCokOyEJuly 3, 2024
Wednesday morning’s launch will already be the 67th Falcon 9 mission of 2024. More than 70% of the rocket’s liftoffs this year have been devoted to building the ever-growing Starlink megaconstellation, which currently contains more. 6,150 operational satellites.
In addition to the Falcon 9 missions this year, SpaceX also conducted one launch of its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket and two test flights of Starship, the next-gen vehicle the company is developing to help humanity reach the Moon and Mars.
This story was updated at 8 a.m. EDT with news of a successful launch.
