Falcon 9 took off from launch pad 39 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida around 6 a.m., SpaceX said on Twitter.
The first stage booster supporting the mission completed eight flights prior to this launch.
“The first leg of Falcon 9 has landed on Naturally I Still Love You’s droneship, completing the ninth flight of that booster,” said SpaceX. tweeted
The Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket, measuring 70 meters or 229 feet in length, according to information provided during the broadcast of the launch. It is described by SpaceX as the “first orbital missile capable of reflighting”.
The 60 Starlink satellites were deployed about an hour after the rocket was launched.
Starlink is a satellite-based internet constellation intended to cover the planet with superfast broadband, and is often touted as a way to potentially provide connectivity to the billions of people who still lack reliable internet access.
The idea requires swarms of satellites operating in low Earth orbit – about 550 miles high, in the case of SpaceX – to provide continuous coverage.
About 1,000 Starlink satellites have been deployed and SpaceX plans to expand Starlink with more than 40,000 satellites. That’s five times the total number of satellites that humans have launched since the start of space flight.
SpaceX now owns about a third of all active satellites in space.