Used SpaceX rocket launches 7,001st Starlink satellites (and 20 others), lands at sea (video)

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Used SpaceX rocket launches 7,001st Starlink satellites (and 20 others), lands at sea (video)


A SpaceX rocket carrying a new batch of Starlink internet satellites launched into orbit from Florida today (Sept. 5), then returned to Earth in a flawless landing. 

The used Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink satellites from a pad at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and landed on a SpaceX drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Liftoff occurred at 11:33 a.m. EDT (1533 GMT), after a one-day delay due to bad weather. 

The Starlink 8-11 mission carried aloft SpaceX’s 7,001st Starlink satellite, according to launch statistics kept by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, as the 21 satellites joined 6,980 others launched by SpaceX since 2018 (though many have since been retired). The new Starlink batch includes 13 “Direct to Cell” satellites to provide internet coverage directly to smartphones, SpaceX has said. The company is building a vast Starlink megaconstellation in low Earth orbit to provide global internet coverage.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the 7,001st Starlink satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on Sept. 5, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Just over 8 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 rocket’s first-stage booster returned to Earth to land on SpaceX’s drone ship Just Read The Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch marked the 15th flight of this particular booster, nine of which were Starlink missions, SpaceX wrote in a mission description

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster stands on its drone ship landing platform after its 15th successful launch on Sept. 5, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX)

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