SpaceX launches 56 new Starlink satellites into space, lands rocket in sea

Space reports that a Falcon 9 rocket was launched into space on Sunday at 01:03 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It carried 56 new Starlink satellites.

The rocket's first stage returned to Earth 8.5 minutes after launch. It landed on SpaceX's unmanned Just Read the Manual spacecraft, which was in the Atlantic Ocean at the time. This was the 11th launch and landing of this rocket.

The upper stage of the Falcon 9 launched 56 satellites into low Earth orbit. All the satellites are scheduled to be deployed approximately 65 minutes after launch.

This Sunday's Falcon 9 launch was the 26th flight of the rocket. It was also the 31st orbital mission for SpaceX in 2023. In addition, the company has so far launched almost 4400 Starlink satellites into space. More than 4 thousand of them are currently active.

• On May 11, Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket that placed 51 Starlink mobile Internet satellites into Earth orbit.