Reusable Falcon 9 rocket launched into orbit with a batch of Starlink satellites
The reusable first stage of the American heavy launch vehicle Falcon 9 has made a successful guided landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic. It launched earlier on Sunday with 60 Starlink Internet satellites, Interfax reports.
The satellites are designed to deploy the global Internet coverage of SpaceX's Starlink system. The launch was carried out from the LC-39A launch complex at the NASA cosmodrome at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
It is noted that the landing on the automatic floating platform Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic was carried out eight minutes after the launch of Falcon 9. This reusable stage of the launch vehicle is already in use for the sixth time.
This is the fourteenth launch of a group of Internet satellites into orbit within the Starlink project. Taking into account the launched vehicles, the SpaceX orbital constellation will consist of 833 Starlink satellites.
Earlier, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that he had found a place to host the first base on Mars. He believes that the northern regions of the planet are best suited for such purposes.
