SpaceX just launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Wednesday (Dec. 4) at 10:05 p.m. EST (7:05 p.m. local California time; 0305 GMT on Dec. 5).
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff as planned, landing on the SpaceX droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Pacific Ocean.
It was the 12th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Half of those missions have been Starlink flights.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying the 20 Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit. It deployed them there about 61 minutes after liftoff as planned.
Related: Starlink satellite train: how to see and track it in the night sky
SpaceX has already launched more than 80 Starlink missions so far in 2024. The huge, ever-growing constellation currently consists of more than 6,700 operational spacecraft, according to satellite tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
