SpaceX Puts 60 New Starlink Satellites Into Orbit With A Well Used Falcon 9

SpaceX conducted a successful launch of a Falcon 9 rocket early this morning and placed a batch of 60 new Starlink satellites into orbit. What's more interesting than another successful Falcon 9 launch and additional Starlink satellites is that this particular rocket is the first in the SpaceX fleet to launch and land nine times. SpaceX launched the rocket from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:01 AM EDT on Sunday morning.

Nine minutes after launch, the rocket's reusable first stage conducted a successful landing at sea on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Mere days ago, SpaceX put another batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit with a Falcon 9 launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Two launches in only a few day span means 120 new Starlink satellites are now in orbit, helping SpaceX to get closer and closer to its goal of 1440 satellites for its initial constellation. While the entire constellation of satellites may not be in orbit yet, SpaceX is already trialing its Starlink Internet service in multiple parts of the country.

Currently, subscribers to the Starlink Internet service pay about $500 for the hardware and about $100 a month for the Internet connectivity. Reports indicate that many subscribers get connections of 100 Mbps or higher with impressive ping times good enough to play online video games.

In the last few months, SpaceX has put some satellites into a different orbit to allow the cover parts of Alaska. Each new batch of satellites allows SpaceX to expand its service to other parts of the country. I received an email from SpaceX letting me know that Starlink Internet service was available in my area of Colorado recently.