From Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, SpaceX launched its most recent batch of Starlink satellites. The business launched its 24th specialized Starlink vehicle in 2024 with the Falcon 9.

At 1:40 a.m. EDT (0540 UTC), the Starlink 6-48 mission was launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

There will be a second launch of the Falcon 9 first stage rocket that is part of this mission; its SpaceX fleet number is B1083. On March 3, 2024, it conducted its first flight in support of the Crew-8 manned mission’s launch to the International Space Station.

B1083 touched down on the SpaceX droneship “Just Read the Instructions” around 8.5 minutes after takeoff. This was the 295th booster landing and the 77th landing on JRTI.

Expert spacecraft tracker and astronomer Jonathan McDowell reports that as of April 7, there were 5,765 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. That running total was increased by 23 satellites with the midnight mission. Albania was added to the list of nations where SpaceX offers its Starlink internet service this week, bringing the total to 74.

At the 39th Annual Space Symposium held in Colorado, space habitation business Vast announced that it will be partnering with SpaceX to provide Starlink internet service for its upcoming commercial space station, Haven-1.

“If you need to provide high-speed, low-latency, continuous internet connectivity on a space station in orbit in 2025, SpaceX Starlink is the only option,” stated in a statement Max Haot, CEO of Vast. “We expect their network and technology leading position to continue and accelerate over time, which is why we are excited to have the chance to partner with SpaceX on deploying their first laser connectivity for a space station.”

Beyond Haven-1, “future Vast platforms… which the company plans to bid for in NASA’s upcoming commercial low Earth orbit destinations competition.”
will be included in the Starlink service.

The announcement of the news comes a year after Vast and SpaceX revealed their agreement to send two crew flights to the Haven-1 space station following its 2025 launch on a Falcon 9 rocket.