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SpaceX launches 51 Starlink satellites from California

A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch Friday afternoon in California, carrying 51 Starlink satellites. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI
A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch Friday afternoon in California, carrying 51 Starlink satellites. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

March 3 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched another group of Starlink internet satellites Friday afternoon in California.

A Falcon 9 rocket with 51 Starlink satellites lifted off at approximately 10:39 a.m. PST from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base after a series of weather delays.

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"Due to unfavorable recovery weather conditions today, team is resetting Falcon 9's launch of Starlink from California for Friday, March 3 at 10:38 a.m. PST," SpaceX said in a tweet before the launch.

The strong back support structure, which is used to bring the Falcon 9 rocket to the launch pad, began retracting at 10:35 a.m. PST, and the Falcon 9 lifted off at 10:39 a.m. PST.

The first stage of the Falcon 9 separated from the vehicle at approximately 10:41 a.m. and returned to Earth, landing on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" at approximately 10:48 a.m. PST.

The upper stage deployed the satellites in low Earth orbit some 15 minutes after the liftoff.

The launch comes after SpaceX on Monday launched 21 upgraded "V2 Mini" Starlink Internet satellites from Florida's Cape Canaveral to boost capacity for the global broadband network.

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The company's megaconstellation already consists of 4,000 satellites but it has received permission to send a total of 12,000 Starlink spacecraft into space.

Friday's launch is the 214th Starlink mission since the start of the program and the 15th this year. The launch marks the 12th flight for the first stage booster which landed on the "Of Course I Still Love You" drone ship shortly after liftoff Friday.

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