SpaceX launches new Starlink 'V2 Mini' satellites into orbit

Feb. 27 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched 21 upgraded "V2 Mini" Starlink Internet satellites from Florida's Cape Canaveral on Monday, to boost capacity for the global broadband network.

SpaceX announced "Liftoff!" in a tweet at 6:16 p.m. EST, showing the Falcon 9 rocket lift off from pad 40 against the sunset. The launch was delayed earlier Monday to allow radiation levels to drop following a solar storm.

Nine minutes later, SpaceX followed with a tweet announcing Falcon's first stage had landed on the drone ship, called A Shortfall of Gravitas, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Deployment of 21 Starlink V2 Mini satellites confirmed," Space X tweeted just one hour after liftoff.

Starlink's new satellite design, called "V2 Mini," holds "four times the communications capacity of early generations of Starlink satellites, known as Version 1.5," SpaceX said.

"This means Starlink can provide more bandwidth with increased reliability and connect millions of more people around the world with high-speed Internet," SpaceX added.

Monday's successful SpaceX satellite launch comes less than 24 hours after the launch of the manned Crew-6 Mission to the International Space Station was scrubbed.

NASA and SpaceX were scheduled to launch a Falcon 9 rocket, topped by the Dragon Endeavor spacecraft at 1:45 a.m. Monday from Cape Canaveral, but it was called off because of an issue with the Falcon 9's ignition system.

The launch of the Crew-6 Mission and its four astronauts has been rescheduled for Thursday.

"NASA and SpaceX teams are targeting Thursday, March 2, at 12:34 a.m. ET for the next launch attempt of the Crew-6 mission," SpaceX tweeted Monday.