For the 300th time this year, a rocket has lifted off for Earth orbit.
SpaceX on Thursday (Dec. 11) launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The broadband internet relay spacecraft entered Earth orbit about eight and a half minutes after leaving the ground at 5:01 p.m. EST (2201 GMT).
The Starlink satellites (Group 6-90) were on track to be deployed into the SpaceX megaconstellation about an hour into the flight.
Crew-8 | Polaris Dawn | CRS-31 | Astranis: From One to Many | IM-2 | Commercial GTO-1 | 8 Starlink missions
The Falcon 9's first stage (Booster 1083) completed its 16th mission, landing back on the autonomous droneship "Just Read the Instructions," stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Starlink network now numbers more than 10,000 satellites, with more than 9,100 active and in use. The commercial service provides internet access to underserved areas around the world, as well as enables cell-to-satellite and airline WiFi for select carriers.
Thursday's launch was SpaceX's 161st Falcon 9 flight of the year, 606th mission overall and marked the 300th orbital launch attempt worldwide, according to the website Next Spaceflight.
