SpaceX launched two more batches of its Starlink Internet satellites overnight (Jan. 28-29), in doubleheader liftoffs from both US coasts.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida at 6:15 p.m. EST (2315 GMT) on Sunday (Jan. 28) with 23 Starlink spacecraft.
Another Falcon 9 carried 22 more Starlings from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:57 p.m. EST (9:57 p.m. local time, and 0557 GMT) on Monday.
Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky
As expected, both of Falcon 9's first stages returned to Earth 8.5 minutes after climbing to land on a SpaceX drone ship parked at sea.
According to SpaceX, it was the 18th launch and landing for a booster to fly from KSC and the ninth from Vandenberg. The company's relaunch record is 19 launches, which was set by a Falcon 9 last month.
The Falcon 9 upper stages, meanwhile, continued to climb into low-Earth orbit to deploy each batch of Starlink satellites an hour later.
These are the eighth and ninth launches of the year for SpaceX, which said it is targeting 144 orbital missions by 2024.
In line with that ambitious plan, there's another SpaceX mission: a Falcon 9 scheduled to launch Northrop Grumman's robotic Cygnus cargo ship toward the International Space Station on Tuesday (Jan. 30).
Sunday's Starlink doubleheader began on a somber anniversary. On January 28, 1986, NASA's space shuttle Challenger disintegrated less than two minutes after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
Hudson Carrington is a contributor at Angperyodiko.ca, covering a wide range of topics including news, politics, business, technology, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle. He focuses on delivering clear, accurate, and reader-friendly reporting that helps audiences stay informed about current events and emerging developments. Hudson is committed to presenting useful information, balanced perspectives, and stories that matter to Canadian readers, making complex topics easier to understand and relevant to everyday life.