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Watch SpaceX launch its 1st Starlink satellites in months - Space.com
Sep 13, 2021 1 min, 21 secs
— SpaceX will launch its first full stack of Starlink broadband satellites since May tonight (Sept. 13) and you can watch the action live online. .

The private spaceflight company will launch a full stack of 60 Starlink satellites on one of its fleet leaders, a veteran Falcon 9 dubbed B1049.

In addition, the flight marks the first Starlink launch since May; SpaceX paused launches for about four months in order to equip the satellites with laser crosslinks that allow Starlink satellites to communicate with each other, reducing the constellation's reliance on Earth, according to SpaceX.

The mission, called Starlink 29, is the company's first operational Starlink flight from its West Coast launch facility and will bring the total number of SpaceX broadband satellites launched up to 1,797. .

Following its second cross-country trek from SpaceX's Florida launch pad to its California outpost, the booster is now ready to loft its 10th payload: a full stack of Starlink satellites.

This flight will mark the second time one of SpaceX's first stage boosters have reached 10 flights.

The first rocket to reach that milestone was booster B1051, when it carried a different stack of Starlink satellites into orbit on May 9.

By flying a second rocket 10 times, SpaceX will have even more data on Falcon 9 and how it holds up over multiple flights to better refine booster recovery efforts. .

Related: SpaceX's most-flown Falcon 9 rocket is a sooty veteran after 10 launches and landings (photos).

Monday's launch marks the 128th flight for SpaceX's 229-foot-tall (70 meters) Falcon 9 booster, and if all goes as planned, it will also be the 91st recovery of a Falcon 9 first stage booster since the company landed its first one in December 2015. 

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