SpaceX launched the GPS III Space Vehicle 06 mission on Wednesday using the Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The GPS III is a satellite for the US Space Force.
This was the second launch and landing for this particular Falcon 9 booster, taking place at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Previously, this booster launched the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station.
Following the launch and stage separation of the booster, it successfully landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The launch took place at 7:24 am, ahead of another launch this week for SpaceX.
On Thursday, SpaceX will also launch a Starlink mission, overseeing the launch of 51 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from the Vandenberg Space Force base in Santa Barbara County, California.
SpaceX is also holding a backup launch window for the Starlink mission on Friday, January 20 at 7:09 am.
After stage separation of the Falcon 9 booster, the spacecraft will return back to Earth and will be caught using SpaceX’s Of Course I Still Love You droneship in the Pacific Ocean.
You can watch SpaceX’s live stream of the GPS III mission launch below.
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