On September 21, SpaceX achieved another milestone by launching its 119th Falcon 9 mission of the year. The mission involved sending a new batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit from Florida's Space Coast, furthering the company's goal of providing global internet coverage.
The launch took place at 6:53 a.m. EDT (10:53 GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A Falcon 9 rocket, equipped with 28 Starlink spacecraft, lifted off flawlessly. Approximately 8.5 minutes after launch, the first stage of the Falcon 9 successfully returned to Earth, landing on the SpaceX drone ship named A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was positioned in the Atlantic Ocean.
This particular booster, designated as B1085, marked its 11th flight with this mission. Notable previous missions for this booster include the Crew-9 and Fram2 astronaut flights, as well as the Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, which was responsible for deploying a private robotic lander to the moon.
While the first stage made its successful landing, the Falcon 9's upper stage continued its journey to deliver the 28 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. According to SpaceX, the satellites were deployed on schedule approximately 64 minutes after liftoff, enhancing the company's expanding constellation that aims to provide high-speed internet across the globe.
With today's launch, SpaceX not only completed its 119th Falcon 9 flight of 2023 but also demonstrated its ongoing commitment to advancing space exploration. In addition to these missions, SpaceX has conducted four other launches this year, which included suborbital test flights of Starship. This giant rocket is a significant part of SpaceX's vision to help humanity settle on Mars and beyond.
