SpaceX Achieves 150th Falcon 9 Launch of 2023, Adding to Starlink Network
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida – SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 Starlink satellites into orbit on Saturday, November 22, 2023, marking the company’s 150th launch of the year. The mission, designated Starlink group 6-79, lifted off from Space Launch Complex-40 at 11:53 a.m. EST.
This launch further expands the SpaceX-owned Starlink network,which now boasts over 9,000 active satellites in orbit. Since beginning deployments in 2019, SpaceX has launched more than 10,400 Starlink satellites, providing broadband internet access to users around the globe. The increasing frequency of launches demonstrates SpaceX’s commitment to rapidly growing its satellite constellation and improving global connectivity.
The Falcon 9’s first stage booster, identified as B1080, successfully returned for its ninth flight, landing on the droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This reuse of rocket hardware is a key component of spacex’s strategy to lower the cost of space access.
According to satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell, the addition of these 29 satellites brings the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit to over 10,400. Saturday’s mission also represents the 568th overall flight of a Falcon 9 rocket since SpaceX’s first launch in 2010.
