April 3 (UPI) -- Amid breaks in an otherwise cloudy sky, SpaceX successfully sent 27 Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit using a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch took place shortly after 6 pm PDT on Thursday at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This marks the fifth usage of this particular first-stage fuel booster cell for launching a SpaceX rocket. After successfully delivering its cargo into low-Earth orbit approximately eight minutes post-liftoff, the booster separated from the spacecraft’s payload section and ultimately touched down intact on the autonomous drone ship named Of Course I Still Love You.
This marks SpaceX's 25th mission for the year 2025.
The steady stream of Starlink satellite launches has been a bright spot for SpaceX in recent months, as the previous two more high profile Starship missions ended when they both exploded. Starship's 7th test flight ended abruptly when it exploded near the Turks and Caicos over the North Atlantic Ocean on January 16. SpaceX identified a propellant leak as the cause of that explosion.
On March 6, SpaceShip 8 also met with a similar end when it broke apart offshore near the coast of Florida after launching from SpaceX's facility in South Texas known as Starbase. This event led to a temporary halt in commercial flights at Orlando International Airport due to the falling debris dispersing over the Atlantic Ocean.
The Starship program is utilized to transport mock-ups of SpaceX’s bigger, sturdier, and weightier satellites into space as part of the company's strategy to enhance its fleet for providing commercial internet services through additional satellite deployments.