CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket sent up the latest Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late Thursday.

The launch sent 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from launch complex 39A at 10:45 p.m.

Going up

Starlink 6-63 mission was launch 13 for the Falcon 9's first-stage booster B1077. And some of the missions it has done are quite impressive, including the Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, NG-20, and six Starlink missions.

After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket will on the droneship Just Read the Instructions that will be in the Atlantic Ocean.

About the mission

The 23 satellites will be heading to low-Earth orbit to join the thousands already there.

Dr. Jonathan McDowell, of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, tracks Starlink satellites.

Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

• 6,024 are in orbit
• 5,243 are in operational orbit