SpaceX grew its Starlink network by 24 more satellites on Wednesday evening (July 1) with a launch from California.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the two dozen new relay spacecraft (Group 17-46) lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 10:58 p.m. EDT (0258 GMT on July 2 or 7:58 p.m. PDT local time). About an hour later, SpaceX confirmed the satellites were successfully deployed in low Earth orbit.
Previous Booster B1100 launches
NROL-105 | 5 Starlink missions
The Falcon 9’s first stage (Booster 1100) completed its seventh flight to space and back, landing on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” positioned in the Pacific Ocean.
SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation now totals more than 10,700 active satellites, according to tracker Jonathan McDowell. The service supports connectively around the globe, as well as in-flight and direct-to-cell services.
Wednesday’s launch was SpaceX’s 79th Falcon 9 liftoff of the year.
