SpaceX launches 23 more Starlink satellites from Florida

SpaceX added 23 more satellites to its Starlink internet constellation on Saturday night (Dec. 2).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the communications satellites lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 GMT on Dec. 3).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with 23 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. (Image credit: SpaceX via X)

The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth for a vertical landing about 8.5 minutes after launch. It touched down on the droneship "A Shortfall of Gravitas," which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.

It was the sixth launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

The 23 Starlink satellites, meanwhile, were scheduled to deploy from the Falcon 9's upper stage into low Earth orbit (LEO) about 65.5 minutes after liftoff.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket first stage is seen after landing on the droneship "A Shortfall of Gravitas" in the Atlantic Ocean after launching 23 Starlink satellites from Florida on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. (Image credit: SpaceX via X)

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The Starlink network, which beams internet service down to people around the world, already features more than 5,000 operational spacecraft, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.

But that number keeps growing, and likely will far into the future. SpaceX already has permission to deploy 12,000 Starlink craft into LEO, and it has applied for approval for another 30,000 on top of that.

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.