SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites as booster B1085 lands smoothly
SpaceX just launched 29 more Starlink satellites bound for low Earth orbit on Tuesday, keeping its internet network growing.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 11:58am EDT, and its first stage, booster B1085, pulled off a smooth landing on the drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas" in the Atlantic, just eight and one-half minutes after takeoff.
Starlink tops 10,900 active satellites
This flight was a big deal for booster B1085 (it's now flown an impressive 18 times), showing how serious SpaceX is about reusing rockets to cut costs. B1085 has already supported major missions like Crew-9 to the ISS and Fram2.
With this latest batch, Starlink's network currently consists of more than 10,900 active satellites, the largest ever. Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell says Starlink currently consists of more than 10,900 active satellites, and with plans for even more advanced satellites (and maybe AI-powered ones), SpaceX isn't slowing down any time soon.