SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites, catches a fairing [Updated]

Enlarge / The Ms. Tree vessel caught a falling payload fairing. (credit: SpaceX)

10:10am ET Wednesday Update: With better weather in Florida, SpaceX's launch of its next 60 Starlink satellites proceeded smoothly on Wednesday morning. About 1 hour after launch, the stack of satellites deployed into low-Earth orbit.

Meanwhile, recovery operations also went well. The Falcon 9 rocket's thrice-used first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, and the Ms. Tree vessel caught one of the two payload fairing halves. Ms. Chief just missed the other one, the company said on its webcast.

Deployment of Starlink satellites with the limb of the Earth in the background. (credit: SpaceX)

8:00am ET Wednesday Update: Weather conditions are finally looking better at Cape Canaveral, in Florida, as well as offshore for rocket recovery. As a result, SpaceX is targeting 9:06am ET (14:06 UTC) for the launch of the Starlink-3 mission.

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