SpaceX breaks launch record as it sends 46 Starlink satellites into space Friday
Liftoff took place at 1:40 p.m. EDT (1740 GMT), after launch was scrubbed Thursday (July 21) at T-46 seconds.
Update: This article was updated to reflect the successful launch.
SpaceX made it through its second attempt to launch 46 satellites on Friday (July 22), breaking a record along the way.
The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, which induced a scrub at T-46 seconds on Thursday (July 21), lifted off successfully from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California Friday.
Liftoff took place at 1:40 p.m. EDT (1740 GMT or 10:40 a.m. local time at the launch site) amid severely foggy conditions on the west coast.
The launch allowed SpaceX to surpass its 31 record launches of 2021 with a 32nd record launch in 2022, and still counting.
Related: Falcon 9: SpaceX's workhorse rocket
Falcon 9's first stage also completed its mission, landing atop the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship in the Pacific Ocean as planned, about 8.5 minutes after launch.
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Prior to this effort, SpaceX most recently launched a set of Starlinks from Vandenberg on July 11. On that occasion, another set of 46 Starlink satellites made it to space and the rocket landed successfully upon the droneship.
SpaceX has launched far more Starlink batches from the U.S. East coast, most recently from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida on Sunday (July 17).
Starlink has more than 2,800 individual Starlink satellites launched to orbit as the company seeks to build out its satellite-internet service. Group 3-2 was SpaceX's fourth Starlink launch in July alone.
SpaceX aims to build out the constellation quickly. It has regulatory approval to send 12,000 Starlink craft to orbit. The company is also asking an international regulator to approve 30,000 satellites after that.
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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, leading world coverage about a lost-and-found space tomato on the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.