SpaceX launches Starlink satellites from California

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched a new round of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit on Monday evening from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched shortly after 6:09 p.m. PST, after liftoff was pushed back from 3:47 p.m.

The launch was also originally scheduled for Sunday, until it was scrapped.

The payload on the Falcon 9 rocket was 23 Starlink satellites.

SpaceX later confirmed on X the "deployment of 22 @Starlink satellites."

UPI has contacted SpaceX for comment on the disparity.

SpaceX said it was the 23rd launch for the first-stage rocket booster, which has been a part of 13 other Starlink space trips.

The first stage returned to Earth and landed safely on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, situated on the Pacific Ocean.

"There is a possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions," SpaceX said in a statement prior to the launch.

Starlink is the world's first satellite constellation, using low-Earth orbit satellites to allow broadband Internet capabilities in the most remote places around the world.

On Monday, Starlink confirmed that its services were now available in Bhutan.

The satellites operate at an altitude of nearly 342 miles above Earth, and the connections they create are strong enough to support streaming, video calls, online games, etc.

On Tuesday, SpaceX is targeting a launch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's pad 40 in Florida. The launch window opens at noon Tuesday and lasts until 4:31 p.m. EST.

About eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster will target a landing on a droneship positioned in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX has now launched 18 Falcon 9 missions in 2025, 12 of them Starlink flights.

Around 7,000 Starlink satellites, which are 9.2 feet long, 4.6 feet wide and 0.7 feet thick, are in orbit since the first launch in 2018. Plans are for there to be 42,000, according to Space.com.

Both SpaceX and X are owned by Elon Musk, the world's richest man and top advisor to President Donald Trump.