Oct. 5 (UPI) — SpaceX early Thursday launched a Flacon 9 rocket into space with a payload of 22 Starlink satellites.
The vehicle launched at 1:36 a.m. EDT Thursday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The launch window had opened at 10:45 p.m., but liftoff occurred after several delays, with no reason given though earlier Wednesday SpaceX reported that weather was only 50% favorable for liftoff.
Watch Falcon 9 launch 22 @Starlink satellites to orbit https://t.co/CrgyrcZULG— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 5, 2023
SpaceX confirmed on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that 22 satellites were deployed into low-Earth orbit where they will join Starlink’s growing constellation of some 5,000 orbitals that provide high-speed, low-latency Internet worldwide.
The first-stage booster, which was on its eight flight, returned to Earth where it landed upon SpaceX’s Just Read the Instructions droneship that was awaiting its arrival in the Atlantic Ocean.
