CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla. – Central Florida residents looking at the sky early Thursday morning might have seen SpaceX launch another Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Coast.
Following two delays, the rocket took off at 12:07 a.m. from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The rocket carried another batch of 23 Starlink satellites into orbit.
Weather for the launch was nearly perfect, according to the forecast by the 45th Space Wing, with only a 5% chance of liftoff winds preventing the launch.
After the launch, the first stage of the rocket separated and landed on a droneship in the Atlantic.
The launch is one of two SpaceX is planning this week. The United States Space Force says SpaceX is targeting Sunday for the launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center, carrying the Space Force’s X-37B spaceplane into orbit for a series of tests and experiments.
It will be the first time SpaceX has handled the launch of Space Force’s secretive unmanned spaceplane.
No time for that launch has been announced.
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