1 of 4 | A timed exposure captures a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as it launches 23 Starlink satellites Wednesday on Mission 6-51 from Launch Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo
April 17 (UPI) — SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit early Wednesday evening, under clear, sunny skies in Florida.
“Merlin engine ignition and liftoff of Falcon 9!” SpaceX wrote in a post on X.
“Five, four, three, two, one, zero, mission liftoff,” as video of the launch shows the 230-foot rocket lifting off at 5:26 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
More than eight minutes later, SpaceX announced the rocket’s first-stage booster had landed vertically aboard a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
“Nominal orbital insertion and first stage landing on the Just Read the Instructions droneship confirmed,” Space X posted on X.
The 23 Starlink satellites were deployed about 65 minutes after liftoff.
“Payload deploy confirmed, adding 23 Starlink satellites to the global constellation,” SpaceX posted in an update.
The 23 Starlink satellites will add to the more than 5,700 operational satellites that make up the megaconstellation.
Wednesday’s launch was the 39th orbital mission of the year for SpaceX and the 26th devoted to the Starlink network.
It was also the twelfth launch and landing for the first stage booster supporting the mission. That brings it to within eight of the company’s reuse record of 20 missions.
While Wednesday’s launch went flawlessly, SpaceX’s livestream feed cut out about three minutes after liftoff. No reason for the disruption was given.
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