KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — On the heels of a historic Space Coast launch this past weekend, another rocket soared to space Wednesday night.
What You Need To Know
- Launch window begins at 9:25 p.m. EDT
- SpaceX will launch 60 satellites
- Get more space coverage here
- RELATED: Liftoff! NASA, SpaceX Embark on Historic Mission
- SEE BELOW: Watch the SpaceX Launch Live ▼
Right on time at 9:25 p.m. EDT, the Space X Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The rocket sent a new batch of Starlink satellites into orbit. This latest bunch of 60 satellites will join hundreds of others, all designed to connect remote parts of the world to the internet.
It is SpaceX’s eighth mission to send the satellites into space.
The 45th Weather Squadron gave the launch a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions for the launch.
Less than 10 minutes after launch, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster lands on their drone ship positioned 400 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean. The booster makes history, becoming the company's first booster to come back safely five times.
Wednesday evening’s launch comes days after SpaceX made history by being the first commercial company to send NASA astronauts into space. The last time NASA astronauts were sent into space from U.S. soil was in 2011 during the final shuttle mission.
The next Space Coast launch is coming up this month, but a date hasn't been set yet.
SpaceX will be sending more Starlink satellites to orbit.