SpaceX just launched yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida’s Space Coast.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday (Nov. 26) at 11:41 p.m. EST (0441 GMT on Wednesday, Nov. 27).
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after launch as planned, touching down on the SpaceX droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean.
It was the 15th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Eleven of its 15 flights to date have been Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, carried the 24 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, deploying them there about 65 minutes after liftoff as planned, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX has now launched 117 Falcon 9 missions so far in 2024, and 81 of them have been devoted to building out the Starlink network. Five of those Starlink flights have occurred in the past eight days.
The Starlink megaconstellation — the biggest ever assembled — currently consists of nearly 6,700 active spacecraft, according to satellite tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1 a.m. ET on Nov. 27 with news of successful launch, rocket landing and satellite deployment.
