On 5 April, SpaceX successfully launched the next batch of its global Starlink satellites into space. The Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 23 Starlink satellites, was launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 5:12 a.m. EST (09:12 GMT).

The Falcon 9 first stage returned to Earth successfully, making a vertical landing approximately eight and a half minutes after liftoff on SpaceX’s unmanned offshore platform, designated «A Shortfall of Gravitas,» situated in the Atlantic Ocean. According to SpaceX’s mission description, this was the 14th flight and successful landing of this first stage.

The upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket proceeded to launch 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The deployment of these satellites was successfully completed as planned 65 minutes after liftoff.

This launch marked SpaceX’s 33rd orbital mission this year and the 22nd deployment of their mega group of Starlink satellites. The company plans to send 21 more internet satellites into space from the Vandenberg military base in California tonight, as part of a four-hour launch window that opens at 22:31 Eastern US time (02:31 Greenwich Mean Time on 6 April).