SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink satellites into orbit early Sunday (August 4), continuing a busy stretch for the company.
TO Falcon 9 Rocket crowned with 23 Star Link The spacecraft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday at 3:24 a.m. EDT (0724 GMT; 12:24 a.m. local California time).
The Falcon 9 first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after launch, as planned, and landed on the SpaceX The drone Of Course I Still Love You, which was parked in the Pacific Ocean.
It was the sixth launch and landing of this particular rocket. According to SpaceX.
The Falcon 9 upper stage also did its job, deploying the 23 Starlink satellites on low earth orbit As expected, the company announced via X.
Related: Starlink satellite train: how to see and follow it in the night sky
Friday's launch was SpaceX's fifth in just over a week, following the launch of Starlink on July 27. Two more on July 28th and another one on Friday (August 2).
The Falcon 9 had not flown for two weeks prior to this busy period, grounded in the wake of a rare Falcon 9 failure on July 11That anomaly was due to a liquid oxygen leak in the rocket's upper stage, which was caused by a crack in a pressure sensor line in the liquid oxygen system — an issue SpaceX has apparently resolved, given the events of the past eight days.
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