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On Friday, February 9, at 4:34 p.m. PT, SpaceX marked another milestone by launching its 12th mission of 2024 from Space Launch Complex 4 East at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Falcon 9 rocket embarked on its 14th flight, carrying 22 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The veteran first-stage booster, boasting the tail number B1071-14, having previously supported missions such as: the U.S National Reconnaissance Office’sNROL-87 and NROL-85 military missions, SARah-1, NASA’s SWOT Earth observation satellite, SpaceX’s Transporter-8 and Transporter-9 smallsat rideshare missions, as well as seven Starlink missions, added another successful mission to its resume. The company shared that this particular booster has played a crucial role, delivering over 134 metric tons to space, including 279 Starlink satellites dedicated to providing global internet connectivity.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/jNAwXYqL1m

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 10, 2024

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Impressively, the first-stage booster B1071-14 demonstrated its reusability by returning to Earth approximately 8 minutes after liftoff. It executed a precise landing on the “Of Course I Still Love You” autonomous droneship stationed off the coast of California. SpaceX’s commitment to reusing rocket technology is evident in its track record, with a total of 270 orbital-class rockets landed and Falcon 9 boosters reused 241 times. This strategy enables the company to achieve frequent spaceflights and make strides in innovative rocket technology.

Falcon 9’s first stage lands on the Of Course I Love You droneship, completing its 14th launch and landing since February 2022 pic.twitter.com/Ms60hTIQjl

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 10, 2024

The latest launch contributed to SpaceX’s ongoing Starlink satellite constellation, now totaling 5,828 satellites deployed since 2019. As of the latest data shared by leading Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, approximately 5,440 Starlink satellites remain in orbit, enhancing global internet accessibility. SpaceX already operates the world’s largest satellite constellation and has plans to launch a total of 12,000 Starlink satellites to LEO in the coming years.

The Starlink broadband constellation is capable of beaming high-speed internet service even to the most remote places on Earth. This week, SpaceX shared that Starlink is available in the Caribbean island of Barbados. The company shared that Asha Stuart, a filmmaker and a photographer, who works on projects around the world, visited Barbados, where her grandfather is from, and Starlink service has been very useful for her work (pictured below). “It enables her to effortlessly showcase the world through her lenses to a broader audience,” says Starlink.

Author’s note: Thanks for reading Cosmic Chronicles. Write your thoughts in the comment section below. If you have story suggestions or feedback, Direct Message me on social media 𝕏: Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve. Read the most recent stories featured below. Thank You.