April 17 (UPI) — SpaceX unveiled its Falcon Nine rocket, which carries 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, Wednesday afternoon under clear, sunny skies in Florida.
“Five, four, three, two, one, zero, project liftoff,” as video of the launch of the 230-foot rocket that lifted off at 5:26 p. m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Merlin engine ignition and Falcon liftoff 9!pic. twitter. com/GVID9qsdUk— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 17, 2024
More than 8 minutes later, SpaceX announced that the first level of the rocket had landed vertically aboard a drone in the Atlantic Ocean.
“Nominal orbital insertion and landing of the first level on the Just Read the Instructions drone has been confirmed,” SpaceX posted on X.
The 23 Starlink satellites were deployed about 65 minutes after liftoff.
“Payload deployment confirmed, adding 23 Starlink satellites to the constellation,” SpaceX said in an update.
Wednesday will see the launch of SpaceX’s 39th orbital project of the year and the 26th committed to the Starlink network.
It is also the twelfth launch and landing of the first tier of reinforcement supporting the mission. That puts it 8 times below the company’s record for reuse of 20 allocations.
While Wednesday’s launch went smoothly, SpaceX’s live stream was interrupted about 3 minutes after liftoff. No explanation has been given as to the reason for the interruption.
Falcon Nine launches from Florida, carrying 23 satellites @Starlink into low-Earth orbit pic. twitter. com/sOBHhmdB7P— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 17, 2024