News

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday with 49 Starlink internet satellites and a rideshare payload for the Italian company D-Orbit. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California occurred at 8:15 a.m. PST (11:15 a.m. EST; 1615 GMT) after delays over the last two days to allow SpaceX to complete pre-launch preparations on the vehicle.

A Falcon 9 rocket thundered off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral before dawn Thursday with another batch of 56 Starlink satellites, setting a record for the heaviest payload ever launched on a SpaceX rocket at more than 38,000 pounds.

SpaceX’s first launch of the year from California, and fourth mission overall in 2023, added 51 more satellites to the Starlink internet constellation, keeping pace with the company’s goal of 100 Falcon rocket launches this year.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 7:43 a.m. PST (10:43 a.m. EST; 1543 GMT) Thursday with 51 more Starlink internet satellites. The mission was delayed more than a week due to bad weather.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket just after sunrise Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, hauling a GPS navigation satellite into orbit to replace an aging 16-year-old spacecraft in the global positioning network trusted to guide everything from military weapons to civilian commuters.