SpaceX launches Falcon 9 Starlink mission for 1st time in more than 3 weeks (photo)

SpaceX just broke an uncharacteristically long Starlink launch drought.

The company sent 27 of its Starlink internet satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) today (Oct.

12), launching them atop a Falcon 9 rocket from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base at 8:28 p.m.

EDT (5:28 p.m. local time; 0028 GMT on Oct.

13) It was the first Starlink mission for a Falcon 9 since Sept.

19 , which was another 27-satellite liftoff from Vandenberg.

For some perspective on this recent gap: Between Aug.

19 and Sept.

6, a span of 19 days, SpaceX launched seven Starlink missions with Falcon 9s.

The Falcon 9's first stage rests on the deck of a ship at sea shortly after the Oct.

12 launch. (Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX did loft a batch of Starlinks after that, but it wasn't aboard a Falcon 9.

The company's Starship megarocket carried 26 next-gen Starlink V3 craft on its 14th test flight, which took place on Sept.

28.

Starship reached orbit for the first time ever on Flight 14 , and it deployed the Starlinks successfully as well.