SpaceX reached another rocket reuse milestone this evening (April 23).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying SpaceX's 23 Starlink Internet satellites lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 6:17 p.m. EDT (2217 GMT).
The Falcon 9's first stage came down to Earth for a vertical landing about 8.5 minutes after launch, touching down with the SpaceX droneship Just Read The Instructions stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Step one is the ninth launch and landing for this particular booster SpaceX mission description. And, most impressively, it was the 300th touchdown overall for a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy first stage. Said by X After the touchdown.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
SpaceX first landed an orbital rocket in December 2015, when a Falcon 9 first stage touched down at Cape Canaveral. Reuse is now routine for the company; One of its Falcon 9 boosters has 20 launches under its belt, for example.
Back to today's flight: Falcon 9's upper stage carried 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO). Sorting them out 65 minutes after scheduled boarding.
Tonight is SpaceX's 41st launch, and the 28th of 2024 is dedicated to building the massive and ever-growing Starlink megaconstellations. There are Almost 5,800 According to astrophysicist and satellite observer Jonathan McDowell, the Starlink satellites currently operating in LEO.
The Starlink launch completed the first half of a space mission: A Rocket Lab Electron vehicle launched two satellites, including a NASA solar-sailing technology demonstrator, from New Zealand at 6:33 p.m. EDT (2233 GMT) today.
Editor's note: This story was updated on April 23 at 6:30 PM ET with news of the successful launch and first stage landing.
