Cape Canaveral, Florida – SpaceX launched 23 more Starlink satellites into orbit early Tuesday morning, strengthening its grip on global satellite internet coverage.

Liftoff occurred at 12:23 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Falcon 9 rocket carried 23 broadband units, 13 of which include direct-to-cell capabilities.

After a nine-minute ascent, the rocket’s first stage successfully returned to land on the droneship “Just Read the Instructions” stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It marked the 21st flight for this Falcon 9 booster, 13 of which supported previous Starlink launches.

This mission came just two days after another batch of 27 Starlink satellites was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California.

According to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, the active Starlink constellation now exceeds 7,600 satellites, forming the largest space-based communications network ever built.

SpaceX has launched around 1,000 additional satellites no longer in service.

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