SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB

Update Sept. 13, 3:30 p.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed successful deployment of the Starlink satellites.

SpaceX kicked off the weekend preparing for its latest Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The Starlink 17-10 mission on Saturday will add another 24 broadband internet satellites to the low Earth orbit constellation. Following the deployment more than an hour after liftoff, SpaceX will have more than 8,400 satellites in low Earth orbit, according to stats tracked by expert orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell.

SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 10:55 a.m. PDT (1:55 p.m. EDT / 1755 UTC). This was SpaceX’s 42nd launch from California this year.

SpaceX launched the Starlink 17-10 mission using its second-most flown Falcon 9 first stage booster: B1071. This was its 28th flight after launching 16 previous batches of Starlink satellites, five missions for the National Reconnaissance Office and four rideshare missions.

Nearly 8.5 minutes after taking off from the launch pad, SpaceX landed B1071 on its drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This was the 151st successful recovery with this vessel and the 504th booster landing to date.