#SpaceX launches 60 new #Starlink internet satellites into orbit

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a new batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit late Monday (Feb. 15), but failed to stick its landing on a floating platform at sea.

The two-stage Falcon 9 booster, topped with the 60 broadband spacecraft, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 here at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:59 p.m. EST (0359 GMT on Feb. 16). Approximately nine minutes later, the rocket's first stage returned to Earth to attempt its sixth landing on SpaceX's drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Atlantic Ocean," but missed its target.

SpaceX prefers to recover its Falcon 9 rocket stages for reuse, but the company has also said repeatedly that delivering a flight's payload to orbit is always the primary mission.