SpaceX launches 300th Falcon 9 rocket with successful Starlink mission

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket for the 300th time after a successful Starlink mission on Thursday evening.

It was a busy 24 hours for SpaceX as it had three launches, including Falcon 9’s 300th mission. Along with it, USSF-124, a mission arranged by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, and the IM-1 from Intuitive Machines, also took place within one day of the Starlink launch.

The Starlink launch occurred at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and took off at 1:34 p.m. PST, carrying 22 more high-speed internet satellites.

The first stage of Falcon 9 returned to Earth just over eight minutes after liftoff, and made a vertical landing on droneship “Of Course I Still Love You,” which was sitting in the Pacific Ocean awaiting the arrival of the spacecraft.

This specific Falcon 9 booster has only had one previous launch and landing, SpaceX said in its mission description for the flight. Its first mission was also a Starlink satellite launch.

As for the upper stage, it made its way skyward and eventually deployed the Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

Starlink has been offering high-speed internet to people across the world for a reasonable price.

Most recently, SpaceX secured a license to operate Starlink in Israel and parts of the Gaza Strip. It also recently partnered with Hawaiian Airlines for in-flight WiFi.

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Joey Klender: Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his time at TESLARATI, Joey has broken several big stories, including the first images of the Tesla Model S Plaid, the imminent release of the 4680 Model Y through EPA certification, and several expansions to the Lucid AMP-1 factory in Arizona, to name a few. His stories have been featured in several publications, including Yahoo! Finance, Fox News, CNET, and Seeking Alpha. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on Twitter @KlenderJoey.
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