SpaceX launches back-to-back Starlink satellites on missions

SpaceX launched back-to-back Starlink missions from California and Florida on Saturday and Sunday, an apparent return to normal operations after suffering an anomaly to one of its rockets.

The launches resumed when the Federal Aviation Administration cleared Elon Musk’s space exploration company Friday to launch 23 of its Starlink broadband satellites Saturday morning. The program had been halted July 11 after a mishap.

After the first of the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 39A at 1:45 a.m. EDT in Florida on Saturday, SpaceX launched two more rockets early Sunday morning.

At 1:09 a.m. EDT, SpaceX launched 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, also located at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

“This was the 14th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, NG-20, and now eight Starlink missions,” the company said in a statement.

Musk, who has been feuding with his daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson over transgender rights, touted the launch as the “300th reuse of a Falcon rocket boost stage” on his social media website X, hours after sharing a meme mocking transgender issues.

After that launch, at 2:22 a.m. PDT, a Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

This marked the 17th flight for that first stage booster, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, NROL-146, and now 10 Starlink missions. That booster landed on a barge called “Of Course I Still Love You.”