SpaceX Launches Ninth Starlink Mission
This mission marked SpaceX's first SmallSat Rideshare Program launch.
Sunday 14 June 2020 | 09:21
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft with two astronauts takes off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral of Florida, the United States, on May 30, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)
U.S. private space company SpaceX successfully launched its ninth Starlink mission on Saturday, carrying 58 Starlink satellites and three of Planet's SkySats to orbit.
This mission marked SpaceX's first SmallSat Rideshare Program launch.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 5:21 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday.
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Following stage separation, SpaceX's Falcon 9 first stage landed on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Planet's SkySats were deployed sequentially beginning about 12 minutes after liftoff, and the Starlink satellites deployed approximately 26 minutes after liftoff.
Starlink will deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable, according to SpaceX.
