SpaceX launched its 100th rocket of the year early Tuesday morning (Oct. 15), and followed it up with another liftoff just hours later.SpaceX‘s centenary mission of the year lifted off from Florida, with a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites aloft. The mission launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:10 a.m. EDT (0610 GMT). As usual, the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster came back to Earth safely, touching down on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” off the Florida coast about eight minutes after launch.
The company followed up that milestone with another launch two hours later, from the opposite U.S. coast. SpaceX’s 101st liftoff of 2024 saw 20 more Starlinks soar to space from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:21 a.m. EDT (0821 GMT, or 1:21 a.m. local California time). The first-stage booster from that flight also safely returned to Earth.
A Falcon 9 rocket sends 20 Starlink satellites to space from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Oct. 15, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX)
These two launches were not the only ones by SpaceX in recent days. For example, the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket sent NASA’s Europa Clipper mission toward the icy Jupiter ocean moon Europa on Monday (Oct. 14).
