SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base, lands rocket (video)

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SpaceX has sent more than 90 missions to space this year.

SpaceX launched a new batch of Starlink satellites into orbit from its West Coast launch site on Thursday (Sept. 12).

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink internet satellites soared into space from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:45 p.m. EDT (0145 GMT Friday, Sept. 13 or 6:45 p.m. local time).

The first stage for the SpaceX booster than landed on the company drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes after launch.

SpaceX Starlink group 9-6 launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sept. 12, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky

It was the 18th time this first-stage booster has flown to space and back again, with 11 of those missions alone supporting previous Starlink deployments, according to SpaceX records. 

Some other SpaceX missions for this booster have included a couple of Transporter launches, which send satellites for multiple clients to space at the same time, as well as national security missions for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The first stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster touches down on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean following launch of a Starlink satellite batch on Sept. 12, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX)
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More than 6,300 Starlink satellites are operational in orbit, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who also keeps track of space launches.

SpaceX has been launching frequently in recent days, including sending five BlueBird smartphone satellites to orbit for AST SpaceMobile earlier in the day on Wednesday, and the crewed Polaris Dawn private mission on Tuesday (Sept. 10). SpaceX has launched more than 90 missions to space in 2024, according to media reports.

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Elizabeth Howell
Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace