SpaceX launched 23 additional Starlink internet satellites into orbit on Sunday (January 7).
The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 5:35 p.m. EDT (2235 GMT).
Related: Starlink Space Train: How to See and Track It in the Night Sky
To plan, the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage returned to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, landing on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.
This was the 16th launch and landing of this particular booster, according to A SpaceX mission description.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 rocket's upper stage continued to ferry 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, where they were scheduled to deploy about 65.5 minutes after liftoff.
This was the third orbital launch of 2024 for SpaceX. And there will be many more to come; SpaceX representatives said the company aims to launch 144 missions this year, which would break the record of 98 missions set in 2023.
There are more spaceflight-related events later at night and, well, early Monday morning (January 8). United Launch Alliance plans to launch its Vulcan Centaur rocket for the first time ever on Monday at 2:18 a.m. EDT (0718 GMT), sending its Peregrine lander toward the moon. You can watch it here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV.
