SpaceX launches Starlink satellites in second mission of the day
by Sheri Walsh
Washington DC (UPI) May 23, 2024

SpaceX launched another 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit on Wednesday, the same day the space company launched a group of U.S. spy satellites from California.

Falcon 9 lifted off one minute behind schedule, at 10:36 p.m. EDT, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

"Merlin engine ignition and liftoff of Falcon 9," SpaceX wrote Wednesday night in a post on X.

Less than 10 minutes later, SpaceX announced "Falcon 9 has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship," which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It was the eighth flight for Falcon 9's first-stage booster. The booster has previously launched three other Starlink missions, ESA Euclid, CRS-30 and the Ax-2 and Ax-3 private astronaut missions to the International Space Station.

Wednesday night's Starlink liftoff was also the second launch in one day for SpaceX, which launched a group of U.S. spy satellites from California's Vanderberg Space Force Base on Wednesday morning. The NROL-146 mission carried the satellites into orbit for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

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