Cape Canaveral, Florida – SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday night to deploy 28 V2 Starlink mini satellites into low-Earth orbit.

This launch is part of SpaceX’s ongoing mission to expand its constellation of Internet satellites. The satellites were released from the rocket’s payload bay about one hour and five minutes after liftoff.

This was the 464th Falcon 9 launch since SpaceX began deploying Internet satellites in 2010.

The mission used a first stage reusable fuel booster for the 23rd time. According to SpaceX, the booster returned safely about eight and a half minutes after launch.

It landed on the droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” located in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Bahamas. This marks the 105th recovery using this barge.

The V2 mini satellites deployed in this mission are slightly lighter than previous versions. SpaceX has also been developing a larger and heavier version of its next-generation satellites.

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