SpaceX lofted 60 satellites Monday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket being used for the fourth time.
The satellites will be used for SpaceX’s Starlink planned broadband network. The company now has 120 satellites in orbit and plans for thousands that will beam high-speed Internet signals from space.
The Falcon 9 departed Cape Canaveral at 9:56 a.m. ET. The first stage booster returned to a SpaceX’s drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. The Falcon 9 used for the mission, previously completed three others. It marked a record for re-use.
The mission also included a previously-used payload fairing, further proving SpaceX’s ability to refurbish and re-use.
SpaceX says 1,440 satellites will need to be in orbit to provide Internet service to the world’s population, which could be achieved in 24 launches. The company has received permission from the Federal Communications Commission to send as many as 12,000 satellites into orbit.
Check out the mission broadcast above.