SpaceX launched another 51 Starlink satellites and Spaceflight’s Sherpa-LTC, an orbital transfer vehicle, into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday at 10:09 p.m. ET (7:09 p.m. PT).
The Falcon 9 and its payload lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
According to SpaceX, this was the seventh successful flight and landing for the first-stage booster that supported this mission. The same booster previously launched two other Starlink missions, along with SpaceX’s Arabsat-6A, STP-2, COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2, and KPLO missions.
In addition, the launch marked SpaceX’s 60th Starlink mission overall and the rocketry giant’s 40th launch this year.
You can watch a recap of the full launch below:
SpaceX’s launch cadence for Starlink satellites continues to improve, despite the satellite internet service having achieved global coverage. Company CEO Elon Musk said last week that SpaceX is now launching new Starlink satellites into orbit roughly every five days.
One of SpaceX’s recent Starlink launches set a new payload record for the Falcon 9 rocket, at nearly 17 metric tons. What’s more, the company has also received approval to deploy Starlink satellites to lower orbits.
SpaceX has also been awarded five additional crew transportation missions to and from the International Space Station (ISS) by NASA.
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