SpaceX launched a fleet of Starlink satellites on July 24, the fifth launch of the program in July and the company’s 33rd launch in 2022. 53 Starlink Internet satellites were launched on board a Falcon 9 rocket and lifted off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida at 9:38 a.m. EDT on July 24. that lifted off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida at 9:38 a.m. EDT on the 24th.
About 8 minutes and 45 seconds after liftoff, Falcon 9’s first stage successfully landed on the unmanned vessel A Shortfall of Gravitas in the nearby Atlantic Ocean.
The Starlink satellite launch follows a successful effort last Friday, July 22, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
That launch brought 46 Starlink satellites into orbit, with the rocket’s first stage landing gently on an unmanned ship in the Pacific Ocean 8.5 minutes after launch. It was the second attempt to launch Starlink’s 3-2 group into orbit after the Falcon 9 rocket induced an abort at T-46 seconds on Thursday (July 21).
SpaceX last launched Starlink satellites from the East Coast about a week ago Sunday, July 17, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet service, which includes about 2,900 Starlink satellites launched to date, Starlink Group 4-25 added launches this month on the West and East coasts of the United States.
The company is working to ramp up its service quickly. It has received regulatory approval to put at least 12,000 Starlink satellites into orbit and is asking international regulators to launch another 30,000 satellites after that.
