SpaceX to launch new batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit

A Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of 56 mini-satellites to replenish the orbital constellation of Starlink's global internet coverage network into orbit, Azernews reports citing Interfax via SpaceX.

According to SpaceX, the rocket will be lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 of the US Space Force at 09:03 (GMT +4) May 14 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. About an hour after liftoff, the rocket will launch all the satellites into orbit.

This will be the 85th launch of internet satellites since May 2019 as part of the Starlink project and the 16th since the beginning of this year. SpaceX has already launched about 4,400 of these satellites into orbit. Some of them decommissioned and de-orbited, and more than 4,000 satellites are functioning in orbit.

At the same time, the first reusable stage of the launch vehicle, which is used for launches for the 11th time, will have to make a controlled vertical landing on the Just Read the Instructions (JRTI) drone ship, located in the Atlantic, 660 km from the space force station, approximately 8.5 minutes after launch.