SpaceX released 23 more of its Starlink web satellites to orbit on Sunday night (April 28).
The Starlink spacecraft took off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:08 p.m. EDT (2208 GMT).
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket bring 23 Starlink satellites launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX by means of X)
To prepare, the Falcon 9’s very first phase returned to Earth for a vertical landing about 8.5 minutes after launch. It touched down on the droneship Just Read the Instructions, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
It was the 13th launch and landing for the booster, according to a SpaceX objective description. Half of the rocket’s previous 12 flights were Starlink objectives.
The Falcon 9’s upper phase, on the other hand, is set to release the 23 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) about 65 minutes after liftoff.
The very first phase of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen after landing on the droneship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX through X)
Sunday’s launch belonged to a hectic weekend for SpaceX. The business released 2 of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites on Saturday (April 27). The liftoff was the 20th for that Falcon 9’s very first phase, connecting a SpaceX reuse record.
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SpaceX’s 30th robotic Dragon freight objective to the International Space Station for NASA was covering up on Sunday. The business’s Dragon pill left the orbiting laboratory at around 1:10 p.m. EDT (1710 GMT), bringing clinical samples and experiments down to Earth.
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Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and signed up with the group in 2010. He mainly covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military area, however has actually been understood to meddle the area art beat. His book about the look for alien life, “Out There,” was released on Nov. 13, 2018. Before ending up being a science author, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science composing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To discover what his most current job is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
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