SpaceX deploys two more Starlink groups into orbit on March 1 bicoastal launches

SpaceX marched into the new month with a pair of Starlink launches from opposite coasts.

The company on Sunday (March 1) began with a Falcon 9 mission rom Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The 5:10 a.m. EST (1010 GMT or 2:10 a.m. PST local) liftoff deployed 25 Starlink satellites (Group 17-23) into low Earth orbit.

Nearly 12 hours later, at 9:56 p.m. EST (0256 GMT March 2), another Falcon 9 carrying 29 Starlink satellites (Group 10-41) launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Both first stage boosters were successfully recovered. Booster 1082 launched from California completed its 20th flight by landing on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” positioned in the Pacific Ocean. Booster 1078 wrapped its 26th launch on the deck of the “Just Read the Instructions” droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The launches increased the count of Starlink satellites currently in orbit to more than 9,900, according to satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.

Sunday evening’s flight from Florida was SpaceX’s 27the launch of the year and 620th completed mission in its history.