SpaceX launched its 20th mission of the year on March 24, sending 56 of its Starlink internet satellites skyward and landing the returning rocket on a ship at sea.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with 56 Starlink spacecraft lifted off Friday at 11:43 a.m. EDT (1543 GMT) from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth as planned 8.5 minutes after liftoff, making a pinpoint touchdown off the Florida coast on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
SpaceX wrote in a mission description that it was the 10th launch and landing for this particular booster.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying the 56 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO). It deployed all 56 satellites as planned about 65 minutes after launch.
Before this mission, SpaceX had launched 4,105 Starlink satellites to LEO, more than 3,750 of which are currently operational, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.
