SpaceX successfully launches its latest batch of Starlink satellites, along with two hitchhiking spacecraft

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off at 1:12AM ET. The first stage successfully landed on the droneship ‘Of course I still love you.’ The company confirmed that both BlackSky satellites had been deployed at 2:21AM ET, and the successful deployment of the 57 Starlink satellites was confirmed soon after. Our original post continues below.

After a month-long delay, SpaceX is ready again to launch its latest batch of internet-beaming Starlink satellites. The company’s Falcon 9 rocket is slated to take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida super early Friday morning, launching 57 Starlink spacecraft as well as two hitchhiking Earth observation satellites from operator BlackSky.

The flight is the latest in SpaceX’s ongoing quest to flesh out its proposed massive Starlink constellation. The company has permission to launch nearly 12,000 Starlink satellites from the Federal Communications Commission, a swarm of spacecraft that will beam broadband internet coverage to every point on the globe. After this launch, SpaceX will have launched 595 Starlink satellites (though at least one has come out of orbit, while a few others have failed since making it to space).

SpaceX originally hoped to launch this mission in early July, but delayed the launch twice — once due to bad weather and a second time to “allow more time for checkouts” of the Falcon 9 rocket. Ultimately the company pushed back the mission into August, after it brought back its first astronaut crew — Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley — from the International Space Station.

This mission is the second Starlink launch to include another company’s satellites along for the ride. Typically, SpaceX has launched its Starlink probes in batches of 60, all by themselves. But on a previous launch in June, SpaceX launched 58 Starlink satellites as well as three tiny imaging satellites from the company Planet. The company Spaceflight, a broker that finds room for satellites on upcoming launches, arranged for the BlackSky satellites to fly on this mission. SpaceX also has its own program to arrange ride-shares on its Falcon 9 rocket, working directly with customers, as it did with the recent Planet ride-share.