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One of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday (Dec. 4) at 5:13 a.m. EST (1013 GMT). The mission will deliver 24 of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO).
It was the 24th launch for this Falcon 9’s first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description. That will top the old mark of 23 flights, which is held by three different boosters.
The rocket’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued on to deploy the 24 Starlink satellites in LEO.
Wednesday’s mission notched up yet another milestone for SpaceX’s Falcon rocket family, which consists of the workhorse Falcon 9 and the more powerful Falcon Heavy. SpaceX has launched more than 400 successful Falcon 9 missions to date and has landed Falcon first stages 377 times.
Starlink is the largest satellite constellation ever assembled. It currently consists of more than 6,750 operational satellites, and that number is growing all the time.
