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With second launch of day, SpaceX marks 200th orbital-class rocket recovery

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 53 "Starlink" satellites at 3:10 a.m. Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI
1 of 3 | A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 53 "Starlink" satellites at 3:10 a.m. Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

June 12 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched two missions on Monday, a Falcon 9 rocket with a payload of dozens of Starlink satellites and the Transporter-8 rideshare mission carrying 72 payloads.

The first mission, carrying 52 Starlink satellites, launched at 3:10 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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The satellites were deployed into low-Earth orbit, where they will join the more than 4,000 that make up Starlink's constellation of orbitals that provide high-speed, low-latency broadband Internet to some 1.5 million users worldwide.

The Starlink mission was originally announced as having a 53-satellite payload. No information was released about the reduction.

The first-stage booster also successfully landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The weather for the launch was "green," Somya Srivastava, structures engineer at SpaceX and host for the mission's host, said during the live broadcast.

The mission marks SpaceX's 39th launch of the year and 230th Falcon 9 mission overall.

The second Falcon 9 rocket that launched at 5:35 p.m. EST, Transporter-8, carried 72 spacecrafts, including orbital transfer vehicles. Its first-stage booster was previously used on eight other missions.

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The Falcon 9's first stage landed at landing zone 4 about seven minutes after launch. It was SpaceX's 200th successful recovery of an orbital class rocket.

"We have a successful first stage landing at landing zone 4, marking the ninth landing for this booster," said Krysta Rhodes, a structures engineer at SpaceX.

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