SpaceX launches Starlink satellites in second mission of the day

UPI
SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites Wednesday night, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the same day the company launched a separate mission from California. Photo courtesy of SpaceX

May 22 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched another 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit on Wednesday, the same day the space company launched a group of U.S. spy satellites from California.

Falcon 9 lifted off one minute behind schedule, at 10:36 p.m. EDT, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

"Merlin engine ignition and liftoff of Falcon 9," SpaceX wrote Wednesday night in a post on X.

Less than 10 minutes later, SpaceX announced "Falcon 9 has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship," which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It was the eighth flight for Falcon 9's first-stage booster. The booster has previously launched three other Starlink missions, ESA Euclid, CRS-30 and the Ax-2 and Ax-3 private astronaut missions to the International Space Station.

Wednesday night's Starlink liftoff was also the second launch in one day for SpaceX, which launched a group of U.S. spy satellites from California's Vanderberg Space Force Base on Wednesday morning. The NROL-146 mission carried the satellites into orbit for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.