Jan. 10 (UPI) — SpaceX on Friday launched 21 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit with a Falcon nine rocket whose first reusable level participated in a record 25th mission.
“The Starlink Direct to Cell constellation now has 400 satellites to enable ubiquitous access to texting, calling and navigation around the world, eliminating dead zones on land, lakes or coastal waters,” the company said.
Shortly after Friday’s launch, the booster landed on the Just Read the Instructions drone in the Atlantic Ocean.
It had flown on 24 previous missions, including CRS-22, CRS-25, Crew-3, Crew-4, TelkomSat-113BT, Turksat-5B, Koreasat-6A, Eutelsat HOTBIRD-F2, Galileo L13, mPOWER-A, PSN MFS, and 13 previous Starlink flights.
SpaceX highlighted the achievements of the Falcon rocket for its participation in 4 Dragon missions, in which 8 astronauts were transported to the International Space Station, and for more than 430 spacecraft in orbit during the last 4 years.