X dispatched 27 of its Starlink internet satellites to the lower Earth orbit from California tonight (April 3).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink The spacecraft took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base today at 9:02 p.m. EDT (6:02 p.m. local California time; 0102 GMT on April 4).
A little over eight minutes later, the rocket's first stage touched down on the X The drone ship named "Of Course I Still Love You" was positioned in the Pacific Ocean. This marked the fifth time that this specific booster had been launched and then successfully landed, as reported by the company. mission description .
Should everything proceed as scheduled, the Falcon 9's second stage will release the Starlink satellites roughly one hour following launch.
The evening’s launch came after a dual-header on Monday (March 31) when the firm sent up an additional batch of Starlinks along with the Fram2 private astronaut mission the initial human flight ever to circle around Earth's poles.
Related: Starlink satellite cluster: how to view and monitor it in the evening sky
So far in 2025, X has conducted 38 Falcon 9 missions, with approximately two-thirds of these focused on constructing the Starlink megaconstellation.
Starlink is undoubtedly the biggest constellation of satellites ever put together. It now comprises over 7,100 functioning spacecraft. according to astronomer and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.
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