SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on 16th re-flight for Falcon 9 first stage (Image Credit: Space.com)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 22 Starlink internet satellites to orbit this evening (Oct. 17).
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 8:39 p.m. EDT (0039 GMT on Oct. 18).
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
The rocket’s first stage came back to Earth, touching down at sea on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions about 8.5 minutes after launch. It was the 16th flight for this particular rocket’s first stage — one shy of the company’s reuse record, which was set just last month.
The 22 Starlink satellites, meanwhile, were scheduled to deploy from the Falcon 9’s upper stage about 65 minutes after launch.
SpaceX has launched more than 70 orbital missions in 2023, most of which have been dedicated to building out the company’s Starlink megaconstellation.
Starlink, which beams internet service down to customers around the world, currently consists of nearly 4,900 operational satellites, and the number keeps growing, as tonight’s launch showed.
