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SpaceX launched a new batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit from Florida’s Space Coast today (Feb. 29) in a leap day launch that came after the company delayed its first astronaut launch of the year.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with 23 Starlink satellites lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).
Related: Starlink Satellite Train: How to See and Track It in the Night Sky
SpaceX moved into launch operations for this mission, known as Starlink 6-40, in the early hours of today after canceling plans to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA on the Crew-8 mission. from the agency.
Crew-8 was scheduled to launch shortly after midnight on Friday (March 1), but SpaceX postponed it no earlier than Saturday night (March 2) due to bad weather offshore that could raise concerns during scenarios. launch abort.
Today’s Starlink launch marked the 11th flight of this particular first stage of the Falcon 9, which had already helped launch five Starlink missions, four commercial satellite flights, and an unmanned NASA cargo trip to the ISS. The booster returned to Earth just over 8 minutes after takeoff today and landed at sea on the unmanned ship Just Read instructions so it can return to port for a future flight.
SpaceX periodically launches Starlink satellites into orbit as it works to build a massive megaconstellation in low Earth orbit (LEO) to provide global high-speed Internet access directly from space. The company hopes to eventually have up to 42,000 satellites in LEO. The most recent Starlink mission launched on February 25.
The satellites participating in today’s mission were SpaceX’s Starlink Version 2 Mini Satellites.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:40 a.m. ET with news of successful rocket launches and landings.