After dealing with delays while the remnants of tropical storm Mario moved through the Central Coast, a third attempt saw a Falcon 9 rocket lift off Friday from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The rocket launched at 9:31 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base after Wednesday and Thursday countdowns were scrubbed.
More than eight minutes later, the first-stage booster finished its 10th flight and landed on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean.
The 24 Starlink satellites successfully deployed from the rocket slightly more than an hour after blastoff, according to SpaceX.
“With each launch, Starlink adds more capacity to the constellation and continues to expand our coverage, connecting even more people in more places all around the world with high-speed internet,” Starlink representatives said on social media.
In late August, Starlink said it had 7 million customers for the system to provide internet service around the world using orbiting satellites instead a land-based system.
The space-based system allows access in areas where traditional internet service isn’t available or reliable.
The Starlink mission’s delays have pushed the West Coast’s next Falcon 9 rocket launch to Monday at the earliest. It initially had been scheduled for Sunday.
That mission involving a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office is planned between 10:23 and 11:23 a.m.
After completing its chores, the first-stage for the NRO mission will return to land at Vandenberg more than seven minutes after liftoff.