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Science & Technology
SpaceX sends 22 Starlink satellites into orbit in record-setting launch
2024-10-27
Oct. 26 (UPI) -- SpaceX on Saturday successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload of 22 Starlink Internet communications satellite from Cape Canaveral in Florida, marking a state record 73rd orbital rocket launch this year.

The Falcon 9 rose from Launch Complex 40 at the Kennedy Space Center as scheduled at 5:47 p.m. EDT.

Less than 10 minutes later, the first-stage booster used in 18 previous launches landed safely aboard SpaceX's drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.

Saturday's launch was the 100th Falcon 9 mission for the company so far in this year -- 66 of them have been to deploy Starlink satellites into the network's low-orbit megaconstellation, according to Space.com.

Meanwhile, local officials along Florida's Space Coast celebrated the 73rd launch of 2024, the most ever in a single calendar year with more than two months remaining.

Posted by:Besoeker

#1  "Were the satellites launched into an elongated orbit?", he asked innocently.

the first-stage booster used in 18 previous launches landed safely aboard SpaceX's drone ship

Rockets landing tail-first as God and Heinlein intended. Reusable boosters landing on ships in the ocean. On SHIPS! This is the 21st century I was hoping for.

By reducing the cost to orbit, Musk is opening space to commerce and exploration. And he is doing it despite a whole lot of people and feral government agencies trying to stop him. NASA has some some bold and heroic things in the past, but lately, they have turned into the NATO of space.
Posted by: SteveS   2024-10-27 20:41  

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