SpaceX Launches Double Satellite, Deploys 46 Satellites in Record Time; Crew to Return Tomorrow [Watch Live]

US private space agency SpaceX completed the flawless deployment of 46 Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit within a span of just six hours on Monday, heralded as the Elon Musk-owned firm’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket embarked on its mission from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

SpaceX and NASA are targeting as early as Monday, March 11 at 11:05 a.m. ET for Dragon to autonomously undock from the International Space Station. After performing a series of departure burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison the trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida almost 19 hours later at approximately 5:50 a.m. ET on Tuesday, March 12.

Watch Falcon 9 launch 23 @Starlink satellites to orbit https://t.co/ItHBMkjrq1

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 8, 2024

Live webcast coverage of Crew-7’s return to Earth will begin on X @SpaceX about 15 minutes prior to undocking.

Watch live.

Aboard the spacecraft will be Crew-7 NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, who flew to the space station on Dragon when Falcon 9 launched the spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, August 26.

The company confirmed in an official statement that the first batch of 23 satellites blasted off at 4:35 am IST, marking the 11th successful flight for the first-stage booster. Notably, this booster has previously supported missions such as Crew-5 and GPS III Space Vehicle 06. Shortly after liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth, executing a flawless vertical landing on the SpaceX drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites June 3, 2020 / SpaceX

SpaceX confirmed the deployment of the initial 23 Starlink satellites via Twitter approximately an hour after liftoff.

Subsequently, the second set of 23 Starlink satellites launched at 9:39 am Indian time, marking the 17th flight for its first stage booster. This booster has a notable history, having supported missions like Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and DART. Following separation, the first stage is slated to land on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

These accomplishments come on the heels of SpaceX’s recent launch of 23 Starlink satellites. With over 5,000 operational Starlink satellites currently in orbit and approval to launch up to 12,000, SpaceX continues to push the boundaries of satellite internet connectivity.

In 2024 alone, SpaceX has already completed 22 orbital missions, with plans to conduct a staggering 144 launches by year’s end.