SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites on 229-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket

SpaceX, on Saturday, launched 53 Starlink satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. They were deployed about 16 minutes after the lift-off of a Falcon 9 rocket at 7:19 AM EST. 

The Starklink can be described as a  satellite-based global internet system. Elon Musk’s space company has been building the technology for years to bring internet access to underserved areas of the world. It intends to fulfill the objective by way of a growing network of private satellites orbiting overhead.

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The rocket’s reusable first stage, which has been used for multiple launches, including the first crewed test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, successfully returned and landed on the “Just Read the Instructions” droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Earlier this week, SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station, including the 600th person to reach space in 60 years.

It took 21 hours for the flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to reach the glittering outpost.

The one German and three US astronauts said it was an emotional moment when they first spotted the space station 20 miles (30 kilometers) distant — “a pretty glorious sight,” according to Raja Chari, commander of the Dragon capsule.

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Three astronauts welcomed the crew instead of the preferred seven.

That’s because SpaceX brought four of them back on Monday, after the launch of their replacements kept getting delayed. It took 21 hours for the flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to the glittering outpost.

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Russia will launch the first group in December and SpaceX the second in February.

With inputs from the Associated Press