SpaceX sent 23 more Starlink high-speed internet satellites into orbit on Leap Day.
The satellites were launched from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:30 a.m. yesterday, bringing the current total to 5,504. SpaceX hopes to have 42,000 satellites in low Earth orbit to build a mega constellation that will provide high-speed internet access to anyone.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida at Cape Canaveral.
The mission, known as Starlink 6-40, was set to be the first of two launches in a 24-hour period for SpaceX.
However, the NASA Crew-8 mission, which was set for launch just after midnight this morning, was postponed to Saturday night, March 2, after rough offshore weather posed concerns during launch abort scenarios, according to Space.com.
Following the successful launch of Falcon 9 and the completion of stage separation that put the 23 satellites into low Earth orbit, the booster returned to Earth in just over eight minutes. It landed on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions,” which was located in the Atlantic Ocean:
This is the first Starlink launch since February 25, and this mission had Version 2 Mini satellites aboard.
This was the 11th flight for this Falcon 9 first stage, which has been a part of five other Starlink missions.
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