SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 rocket since making its public trading debut on the Nasdaq.
The Starlink 17-54 mission launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday morning to add another 24 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit constellation.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East occurred at 8:34 a.m. PDT (11:34 a.m. EDT / 1534 UTC). The rocket flew on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.
SpaceX launched the Starlink 17-54 mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1093. It was the 14th flight after launching the Transporter-14, SDA T1TL-B and T1TL-C, and ten batches of Starlink satellites.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1093 landed on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You’, positioned in the Pacific Ocean. It was the 203rd landing on this vessel and the 624th booster landing for SpaceX.
