SpaceX launches 55 Starlink satellites, lands rocket on ship at sea

SpaceX launched its 10th mission of the year on early February 12, sending 55 of its Starlink internet satellites skyward and landing the returning rocket on a ship at sea.

A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 55 Starlink craft lifted off Sunday at 12:10 a.m. EST (0510 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, Caliber.Az reports, citing space.com.

The Falcon 9's first stage landed as planned 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred miles off the Florida coast.

It was the 12th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description(opens in new tab).

Among its previous flights were six other Starlink missions and two landmark private astronaut flights — the Ax-1 journey to the International Space Station in April 2022 and the free-flying Inspiration4 jaunt to Earth orbit in September 2021.