SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg SFB

Update May 19, 11:40 p.m. EDT (0340 UTC): SpaceX landed its first stage booster on the drone ship.

SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Tuesday night to send a batch of its Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

The mission, dubbed Starlink 17-42, will add another 24 broadband internet satellites to a constellation of spacecraft that consists of more than 10,000 spacecraft. More than 600 of those satellites support direct-to-device capabilities.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 7:46 p.m. PDT (10:46 p.m. EDT / 0246 UTC). The rocket flew on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.

SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1103. This was its second launch after flying the Starlink 17-35 mission on April 6.

The booster was previously assigned to the NROL-172 mission, but was swapped for B1097 prior to launch. SpaceX didn’t offer an explanation for the swap.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1103 landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This was the 197th landing on this vessel and the 612th booster landing to date.