SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 carrying 60 new Starlink satellites to low orbit and marking its 84th flight - more than any other currently operating rocket in the U.S. EDNews.net reports citing Vestnik Kavkaza.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 19:30 GMT from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Around 14 minutes after the launch, the Starlink satellites began deployment out of the nose cone of the rocket, which has been reused from a previous mission, and into low orbit.
Today's flight is the seventh operational Starlink mission, bringing the total number of satellites launched for the nascent broadband network up to 422.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has noted in the past that at least 400 satellites are needed for SpaceX to start introducing minimal internet coverage – at least 800 are necessary for moderate coverage, Daily Mail reported.
The firm aims to have more than 1,000 satellites in orbit by the end of the year and has also been approved by the FCC to launch over 12,000 in total.
