by Mark Moran
Washington DC (UPI) May 1, 2025
SpaceX launched 28 V2 Internet satellites into low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday night, adding to its fleet of nearly 7,300 orbitals already in space.
The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the payload was launched just after 6:51 p.m. EDT.
It was the 18th mission for the first-stage fuel booster, which landed on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions, stationed in the Atlantic ocean, about 8 1/2 minutes after launch.
This reusable booster, with the tail number 1080, has been used to launch two private astronaut missions to the International Space Station, two cargo missions and the European Space Agency's Euclid observatory.
It was the 440th time SpaceX has employed a reusable fuel booster, the 468th SpaceX launch overall and the 51st of the year.
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