News > SpaceX launches 51 Starlink satellites, lands rocket on ship at sea

SpaceX launches 51 Starlink satellites, lands rocket on ship at sea

SpaceX launched another big batch of its Starlink internet satellites toward orbit and landed the returning rocket on a ship at sea on May 10. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 51 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on schedule at 4:09 p.m. ET. The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff as planned. It touched down on SpaceX's 'Of Course I Still Love You' drone ship, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.