SpaceX launched 23 more Starlink satellites on Sunday (May 12), adding to its massive and ever-growing portfolio of broadband satellites.
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 8:53 p.m. EDT (0053 GMT May 13).
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The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage returned to Earth about 8 minutes after launch, landing on board the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
This was the 15th launch and landing of this particular first stage, according to A SpaceX mission description. Nine of its 14 liftoffs so far have been Starlink missions.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage carried the 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO), deploying them there about 65 minutes after liftoff.
Sunday’s launch was already SpaceX’s 49th orbital mission of 2024. Thirty-three of the 48 launches this year are dedicated to building the massive Starlink constellation, which currently consists of About 5,900 operational satellites.
This number is likely to continue to grow in the future; SpaceX has permission to deploy 12,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit and has applied for approval to deploy another 30,000 satellites on top of that.
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