SpaceX expands Starlink satellite constellation with latest launch

SpaceX added yet more satellites to its ever-growing Starlink internet mega constellation on Monday night.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday at 11:20 p.m. EST (0420 GMT on Nov. 28).

The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth for a vertical landing about 8.5 minutes after launch. It touched down on the droneship “Just Read the Instructions,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.

It was the 17th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

The 23 Starlink satellites, meanwhile, were scheduled to deploy from the Falcon 9’s upper stage into low Earth orbit (LEO) about 65.5 minutes after liftoff. Space