Double delivery: SpaceX sends Starlink satellites into orbit on launches from California and Florida

SpaceX added a 53 satellites to its Starlink megaconstellation over the course of two launches in as many days.

First up was a Valentine’s Day (Saturday, Feb. 14) liftoff of 24 satellites (Group 17-13) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.. The Falcon 9 rocket launched at 8:59 p.m. EST (0159 GMT on Feb. 15 or 5:59 p.m. PDT local time).

Then early Monday morning (Feb. 16), another Falcon 9 with 29 Starlink units (Group 6-103) took off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. That liftoff occurred at 2:59 a.m. EST (0759 GMT).

SpaceX confirmed a successful deploy for both missions about an hour after their respective liftoffs.

The first stages from both Falcon 9 rockets landed safely on drone ships positioned in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The touchdown on “Of Course I Still Love You” on Saturday marked the completion of Booster 1081’s 22nd flight. Booster 1090, which landed on “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” finished its 10th reuse.

The Starlink service provides broadband internet service to underserved areas around the world. The network, which now includes more than 9,600 active units, also enables cell-to-satellite and in-flight wifi on select providers.

Monday’s launch was SpaceX’s 19th Falcon 9 flight of the year and 602nd in history.