SpaceX maintained its impressive pace of space launches on Friday night, successfully placing 22 Starlink satellites into lower Earth orbit from Florida’s Canaveral Space Force Station.

The launch occurred at 10 p.m. EDT at Space Launch Complex 40, with the first stage returning to Earth safely approximately 8 minutes after liftoff.

Notably, this marked the 10th time the first-stage booster had been utilized in a mission, a testament to SpaceX’s commitment to reusability.

The current record for the most times a first-stage booster has been reused stands at 17 flights, a feat accomplished by two other boosters, UPI reported.

Approximately 65 minutes after launch, the satellites were released into space by the Falcon 9 upper stage.

These satellites are part of SpaceX’s ambitious mega constellation project, designed to provide internet service to some of the world’s most remote areas.

Currently consisting of 4,800 operational satellites, SpaceX has received approval for up to 12,000 such satellites.

This launch marked the 39th time a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has taken off from Cape Canaveral in the current year.

Additionally, it represented the 69th orbital mission across all of SpaceX’s launch sites, setting a new record for the company.

Written by staff