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May 24 (UPI) -- SpaceX continued its torrid, history-making launch space on Thursday night when it lifted 23 new Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, making its third blastoff in two days. The launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida also happened on the fifth anniversary of SpaceX's first Starlink mission in Elon Musk's ambitious plan to provide satellite Internet service around the globe no matter how remote the location.
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It was the 13th time the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket was used in flight. The first stage safely landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean eight minutes after takeoff. The reusable first-stage rocket is one of the reasons SpaceX can launch missions at such a breakneck pace.
On Wednesday, SpaceX pulled off two flights, one benefitting a security mission by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office in California and the second launching a new round of Starlink satellites from Florida.
In all, SpaceX has launched 52 missions in 2024, 36 of those connected to its own Starlink project. SpaceX's 63 Starlink missions in 2023 set a record, nearly doubling the Starlink-related missions it had the year before.
SpaceX has continued to ferry cargo to the International Space Station with its Drago spacecraft and it continues to test its Starship with plans to eventually send people to the Moon and possibly Mars in the future.
