SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday evening, lighting up the sky shortly after sunset.
The 6:12 p.m. liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 took 48 more Starlink satellites as well as two Earth observation satellites from the company BlackSky Global into orbit.
The first stage booster previously flew on eight other missions. SpaceX was able to land it again on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic. It marked the 129th successful first stage booster landing for the company.
The launch was the 27th for Falcon 9 in 2021 and 18th for Starlink.
Each Starlink launch places up to 60 of the 570-pound, internet-providing satellites into low-Earth orbit.
This new batch will bring the company to more than 1,700 active satellites, part of its plan to expand to at least 12,000 in an effort to provide inexpensive high-speed internet service worldwide.
Starlinks orbit at 341 miles altitude and are designed to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere if they cease to function. The International Space Station in comparison orbits at 254 miles altitude.
The first Starlink launch, with two test satellites, occurred in February 2018. The Starlink program at full capacity looks to provide the company billions of dollars from millions of Internet subscribers across the planet and help pay for SpaceX’s missions to Mars.
