SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 27 Starlink satellites to orbit on record-breaking 27th flight (photos)
SpaceX continues to push the boundaries of rocket reuse.
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 27 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off at midnight (0400 GMT) on Monday (April 14) from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
It was the 27th launch for the rocket’s first stage, breaking a reflight record that this same booster set two months ago. Sixteen of its liftoffs have been Starlink flights, SpaceX wrote in a mission description.
The booster came back to Earth safely for the 27th time on Sunday as well. A little over eight minutes after launch, it touched down on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying the 27 Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO), deploying them there on schedule about 65 minutes after launch.
Related: Starlink satellite train: how to see and track it in the night sky
Monday’s liftoff was the 43rd Falcon 9 launch of the year already, and the 29th devoted to building out the Starlink network. The LEO megaconstellation currently consists of nearly 7,200 operational satellites and is growing all the time.
SpaceX has two other launches under its belt in 2025 as well — test flights of its Starship megarocket, a powerful, fully reusable vehicle that the company sees as a game-changer for spaceflight and exploration.
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