SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from California today (Feb. 1).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:02 p.m. EST (2302 GMT).
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff as planned, touching down in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You.”
Today’s flight was the 17th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Thirteen of its 17 flights have been Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying the 22 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. It will deploy them there about 61 minutes after liftoff.
SpaceX has now launched 14 Falcon 9 missions in 2025, nine of them Starlink flights.
The Starlink megaconstellation — the biggest ever assembled — currently consists of more than 6,900 operational spacecraft, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.
Article by:Source: robert@collectspace.com (Robert Z. Pearlman)
