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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites from Cape Caneveral

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 21 of its Starlink satellites at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on January 10. A new launch went off on Monday afternoon after a slight delay. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 21 of its Starlink satellites at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on January 10. A new launch went off on Monday afternoon after a slight delay. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 27 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched its next round of Starlink satellites into lower Earth orbit on Monday afternoon from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

It marked SpaceX's 12th mission of the year, when it lifted off at 5:05 EST from Launch Complex 40.

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The payload included 21 Starlink satellites, 13 of them with "direct-to-cell" capabilities. Meanwhile, the first stage of the rocket made its 20th launch before autonomously returning to Earth and land on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean roughly eight minutes after launch.

Earlier in the day, the launch was widely expected because the Space Force 45th Weather Squadron had said there would be a 95% chance of liftoff based on weather conditions, with little chance of cumulus clouds in the region.

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