CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A brand new SpaceX rocket launched a pristine batch of Starlink web satellites into orbit late Wednesday (Feb. 26) in a blinding nighttime liftoff.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites soared into the evening time sky from a SpaceX’s Launch Complicated-40, on the Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station, in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 10:34 p.m. EST (0334 GMT).
The Starlink mission, known as Starlink 12-13, marked the fourth batch of Starlink web satellites launched by SpaceX in simply over every week, preceded by flights on Feb. 18, Feb. 21 and Feb. 22. SpaceX initially focused Tuesday evening for the launch, however pushed it again 24 hours earlier than that try.
The launch was a rarity for SpaceX in a single side: its Falcon 9 first stage. The booster was a brand-new Falcon 9 stage — designated B1092 — making its first flight, a novelty for SpaceX, which has a secure of veteran flown boosters.
The booster returned to Earth about eight minutes after launch like the legions of its predecessors, touching down on the drone ship Simply Learn the Directions stationed offshore within the Atlantic Ocean. The Falcon 9 higher stage, in the meantime, continued its ascent to orbit, the place it deployed its 21 Starlink satellites about 65 minutes after liftoff.
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The brand new Starlink satellites add to SpaceX’s rising variety of space-based web satellites in a megaconstellation designed to supply high-speed web entry around the globe.
The late-night launch marked SpaceX’s twenty fourth Falcon 9 mission of 2025, 18 of which have been devoted to Starlink launches. SpaceX presently has greater than 7,000 operational Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit, according to a database by astronomer Jonathan McDowell, who frequently tracks Starlink constellation satellites.
