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Watch: SpaceX rocket launches from Cape and lands offshore

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster lifted 60 Starlink communications satellites to space before landing on an offshore platform.
 
Published Jan. 29, 2020|Updated Jan. 29, 2020

SpaceX launched a third batch of 60 Starlink communications satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 9:09 Wednesday morning. The launch had been delayed a number of times over the past two weeks; the latest delay occurred on Tuesday due to weather conditions in the recovery area.

The satellites are a part of SpaceX’s Starlink high-speed and low-latency communications constellation.

According to a November 2019 press release, SpaceX could begin offering broadband service to U.S. and Canadian customers after the sixth Starlink launch. Global coverage is expected to begin after 24 launches.

The booster used for this flight had flown twice before. The first flight took place on Mar. 2, 2019 during the Crew Dragon demonstration mission. The second flight lifted a set of RADARSAT satellites into orbit on June 15. The booster landed on a floating platform in the Atlantic. SpaceX also hopes to catch the rocket’s nose cone halves with two ships outfitted with large nets.