SpaceX launches more Starlink satellites from Florida

April 29 (UPI) -- Space X launched another batch of Starlink satellites into orbit late Friday afternoon.

A Falcon 9 rocket carried 53 satellites into space from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 40.

The launch took place as scheduled at 5:27 p.m., with the reusable first-stage rocket landing on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship at 5:36 p.m. It was the booster's second flight in 21 days, SpaceX said.

Friday's launch marked the 44th Starlink mission. Space X now has a constellation of more than 2,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, providing Internet connectivity to hundreds of thousands of users.

An April 21 Space X Starlink launch was delayed for 3 hours by strong winds.

The company has provided Starlink ground terminals to the Ukrainian government for use during the Russian invasion.

Ukraine Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted a thank-you to Musk for a Starlink shipment Ukraine received at the end of February.

"While you try to colonize Mars -- Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space -- Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people!" Fedorov wrote.

The Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by Space X. The company says it's safe transport for people and payloads "into Earth orbit and beyond."

The reusability, Space X said, allows costs to be driven down by re-using the most expensive parts of the rocket.