SpaceX launches 56 Starlink satellites, lands rocket at sea

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SpaceX continues to build out its Starlink broadband megaconstellation.

SpaceX launched another big batch of its Starlink internet satellites and landed the returning rocket at sea early Thursday morning (May 4).

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 56 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT).

The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, touching down on SpaceX's A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.

Related: Starlink satellites: Everything you need to know

The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rests on one of the company's drone ships after a successful touchdown on May 4, 2023. The landing came about 8.5 minutes after the rocket launched 56 Starlink satellites from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. (Image credit: SpaceX)

It was the seventh launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

The Falcon 9's upper stage continued powering its way upward Thursday. It will deploy the 56 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit a little less than 65 minutes after liftoff, if all goes according to plan.

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Starlink is SpaceX's huge and ever-growing constellation of broadband satellites. The company has now launched more than 4,300 Starlink spacecraft to date, the vast majority of which are currently functional, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell, who keeps tabs on such things.

Thursday's launch was the 29th orbital mission of the year for SpaceX and the 27th for a Falcon 9. The other two SpaceX orbital flights this year have involved the company's burly Falcon Heavy rocket.

The above numbers don't include SpaceX's highest-profile launch of the year — the April 20 test flight of Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. That mission wasn't designed to reach orbit, and it didn't, ending with a commanded destruction of Starship about four minutes after liftoff. 

Editor's note: This story was updated at 3:40 a.m. ET on May 4 with news of successful launch and rocket landing.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us @Spacedotcom, or on Facebook and Instagram. 

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • orsobubu
    isn't the starlink business model an absurd, with tenth thousands satellites instead that only 3 as viasat? can somebody explain to me please
    Reply
  • billslugg
    Viasat only covers the US, for $100 up front, $265/month you get 100 MBPS at 600 ms latency and 300 Gigs of data.
    Starlink covers the world, $500 up front, $110 per month you get 100 MPBS at 18 ms latency and 1000 Gigs.

    Viasat uses geostationary satellites thus has a latency that does not support phone calls or gaming. It is two to three times more expensive for the speed and the amount of monthly data you get.
    Reply
  • orsobubu
    billslugg said:
    Viasat only covers the US, for $100 up front, $265/month you get 100 MBPS at 600 ms latency and 300 Gigs of data.
    Starlink covers the world, $500 up front, $110 per month you get 100 MPBS at 18 ms latency and 1000 Gigs.

    Viasat uses geostationary satellites thus has a latency that does not support phone calls or gaming. It is two to three times more expensive for the speed and the amount of monthly data you get.
    ok, thank you, but is something going to change with new viasat-3 satellites launching this year? should be competitive online gaming a priority against other issues brought by low-earth satellites megaconstellations?

    https://forums.space.com/threads/satellite-megaconstellations-are-threatening-astronomy-what-can-be-done.61254/#post-582109
    Reply
  • billslugg
    orsobubu said:
    ok, thank you, but is something going to change with new viasat-3 satellites launching this year? should be competitive online gaming a priority against other issues brought by low-earth satellites megaconstellations?

    https://forums.space.com/threads/satellite-megaconstellations-are-threatening-astronomy-what-can-be-done.61254/#post-582109
    You cannot play games using Viasat satellites in geostationary orbit. They are too far away, it takes half a second for a byte to get there and back.
    Reply
  • orsobubu
    billslugg said:
    You cannot play games using Viasat satellites in geostationary orbit. They are too far away, it takes half a second for a byte to get there and back.
    ok, but overcoming this with millions satellites sounds totally foolish to me
    Reply