SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites from Florida

SpaceX launched 23 more of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit on Sunday evening (April 28).

The Starlink spacecraft lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida‘s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:08 p.m. EDT (2208 GMT).

To plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage came back 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 mission description. Half of the rocket’s previous 12 flights were Starlink missions.

The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, is set to deploy the 23 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) about 65 minutes after liftoff.

Sunday’s launch was part of a busy weekend for SpaceX. The company launched two of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites on Saturday (April 27). The liftoff was the 20th for that Falcon 9’s first stage, tying a SpaceX reuse record.

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SpaceX’s 30th robotic Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station for NASA was wrapping up on Sunday as well. The company’s Dragon capsule departed the orbiting lab at around 1:10 p.m. EDT (1710 GMT), bringing scientific samples and experiments down to Earth.