Used SpaceX rocket launches 7,001st Starlink satellite (and 20 others), lands at sea (video)

A SpaceX rocket carrying a new batch of Starlink internet satellites launched into orbit from Florida today (Sept. 5), then returned to Earth in a flawless landing. 

The used Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink satellites from a pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and landed on a SpaceX drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Liftoff occurred at 11:33 a.m. EDT (1533 GMT), after a one-day delay due to bad weather. 

The Starlink 8-11 mission carried aloft SpaceX's 7,001st Starlink satellite, according to launch statistics kept by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, as the 21 satellites joined 6,980 others launched by SpaceX since 2018 (though many have since been retired). The new Starlink batch includes 13 "Direct to Cell" satellites to provide internet coverage directly to smartphones, SpaceX has said. The company is building a vast Starlink megaconstellation in low Earth orbit to provide global internet coverage.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the 7,001st Starlink satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on Sept. 5, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Just over 8 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 rocket's first-stage booster returned to Earth to land on SpaceX's drone ship Just Read The Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch marked the 15th flight of this particular booster, nine of which were Starlink missions, SpaceX wrote in a mission description

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster stands on its drone ship landing platform after its 15th successful launch on Sept. 5, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX)

The Falcon 9 landing was the third successful touchdown of a SpaceX rocket in a week after the company's failed landing attempt on Aug. 28 during an otherwise successful Starlink flight. SpaceX launched two other Starlink missions on Aug. 31 after receiving clearance to fly from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the failed landing.

Meanwhile, SpaceX is preparing for yet another rocket launch in a cross-country doubleheader.

Another Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch a batch of classified spy satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office at 11:20 p.m. EDT (8:20 p.m. PDT/0320 Sept. 6 GMT) from a pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. That mission, called NROL-113, will mark the 20th launch of its Falcon 9 booster, SpaceX said

You'll be able to watch that NROL-113 launch live on SpaceX's X page (formerly Twitter), starting five minutes before liftoff.

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.