SpaceX on Sunday launched a pair of Falcon 9 rockets from opposite coasts, tying its own record set last year for number of missions completed. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo
SpaceX launched a pair of Falcon 9 rockets from opposite coasts Sunday, sending a total of 56 satellites into low-Earth orbit, adding to the growing Starlink commercial fleet.
The first launch occurred at 1:39 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral.
Space Force Station and the second lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California at 12:24 p.m. PDT.
The first launch marked a record 31st time that the first stage fuel booster rocket was employed to power a Falcon 9 liftoff.
About eight minutes after liftoff, it returned to the droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
The second launch was also successful. Following separation from the spacecraft, the first stage fuel booster rocket returned to the droneship, “Of course I still Love You,” stationed in the Pacific Ocean, about eight minutes after liftoff
With the Sunday launches, Spacex’ tied a record for the total number of Falcon 9 missions this year with 132.
