Two hours before sunrise, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket illuminated the predawn darkness during a Friday morning liftoff from Florida's east coast, marking another expansion of the company's Starlink network.
The early-bird Starlink mission lifted off at 5:12 a.m. EDT, shipping another payload of 23 Starlink broadband satellites into the company's ever-growing constellation in low-Earth orbit.
In a post on X last week, SpaceX officials announced Argentina is now the 72nd country worldwide — and seventh in South America — that can access Starlink high-speed internet service.
Following Friday's rocket stage separation, the Falcon 9 booster landed atop SpaceX's drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas out on the Atlantic Ocean, wrapping up its 14th mission, Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. The booster previously launched CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19 and nine Starlink missions, according to SpaceX.
PHOTOS:See the best pictures from SpaceX southern California launch
SpaceX had a second Friday launch scheduled in California: A Falcon 9 was scheduled to send up 21 Starlink satellites — including six with direct-to-cell capabilities — at 10:31 p.m. EDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
In Brevard County, Air Force officials are preparing an environmental impact statement examining SpaceX's proposal to convert Launch Complex 37 into a Starship-Super Heavy launch facility by 2026 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base. Public open houses were conducted last month in Cocoa, Titusville and Cape Canaveral to collect public comments about the massive rocket system.
Next on the launch calendar, SpaceX is targeting Sunday evening for its next mission from the Cape, Federal Aviation Administration and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational warnings show. More information:
Then on Tuesday, United Launch Alliance continues to target 12:53 p.m. for the historic last launch of a Delta IV Heavy triple-core rocket on the NROL-70 national security mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.