A Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday successfully launched another batch of 22 mini-satellites into orbit to add to the orbital constellation of the Starlink global Internet coverage system, the developer SpaceX said.
“The launch of 22 Starlink satellites has been confirmed,” the statement said.
The launch took place from Launch Complex 40 at U.S. Space Force Base at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 08:20 U.S. East Coast time (3:20 p.m. QT).
It was the 88th launch of Internet satellites since May 2019 as part of the Starlink project and the 19th since the beginning of this year. Including the current launch, SpaceX has already put into orbit more than 4.5 thousand such satellites. Some of them have failed or fallen out of orbit. More than 4,200 apparatuses remain in orbit in working condition.
At the same time, the first reusable stage of the launch vehicle, which was used to launch for the third time, in about nine minutes after the launch made a controlled vertical landing on the offshore platform-drone in the Atlantic.
