SpaceX launched 27 more Starlink satellites on Saturday morning, setting a new record by preparing the launch pad for another launch just two days after the previous launch from the same site in Florida.
Thirteen hours later, a private company launched additional satellites from California.
Saturday's first mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 40 at 12:26 a.m. ET. The launch came just two days, eight hours, 31 minutes and 10 seconds after the Starlink mission lifted off from the same pad, beating SpaceX's previous record set in March by 28 minutes.
SpaceX also uses a pad at the nearby Kennedy Space Station.
The launch took place despite poor weather conditions that settled on Florida's Space Coast on Friday evening.
The first stage completed its fifth flight, during which the Starlink missions were launched.
About eight minutes after liftoff, the booster landed on the unmanned spacecraft, A Shortfall of Gravitas, in the Atlantic Ocean. According to Spaceflight Now, it was the 115th landing on the unmanned spacecraft and the 469th landing of the booster since operations began.
The first landing of the drone took place on April 8, 2016, in the Atlantic Ocean on board the vessel “Of Course I Still Love You”, which is also used in the Pacific Ocean.
Ten years ago, on June 28, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral was destroyed in an explosion during a NASA mission to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9's first launch occurred five years earlier, on June 4, 2010, from the same Cape.
Launch from California
SpaceX has launched 26 more Starlink satellites from Vandenberg 4 East in California.
Falcon 9 lifted off at 1:13 p.m. Pacific time. It was the eighth launch of the rocket's first stage used for this mission, including three Starlink missions.
The first stage then landed on the drone “Of Course I Still Love You.” This is the 139th landing of this vessel.
Sourse: www.upi.com
