SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched 15 Starlink satellites into orbit on July 20 and landed safely on a ship at sea, Space reports.
The Falcon 9 was originally scheduled to launch on July 19, but was canceled five seconds before launch after receiving a signal from the upper stage of the rocket.
However, on July 20, at 07:09 Kyiv time, the Falcon 9 launched and its first stage returned to Earth as planned.
The Falcon 9 made a vertical landing on the SpaceX drone Of Course I Still Love You about 9.5 minutes after launch. At the same time, the upper stage of the Falcon 9 continued to launch 15 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The satellites were deployed about 15 minutes after launch.
SpaceX spokesman Zachary Luppen said that this launch was SpaceX’s 48th orbital mission in 2023.
