SpaceX launched its 40th mission of the year on April 18, a significant milestone for the company. The Falcon 9 rocket carried 23 Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This was the seventh launch and landing for this particular booster, which has previously been used to send astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the Ax-2 and Ax-3 missions. The Falcon 9's upper stage will continue hauling the 23 Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit before deploying them there about 65 minutes after liftoff. So far this year, SpaceX has launched 27 of its 40 orbital missions to build out the Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of over 5,760 operational satellites. The constellation is designed to provide high-speed internet access to users around the world. In addition to the Starlink mission, SpaceX is also working on a megarocket called Starship that is being developed to carry people and cargo to the moon and Mars. A test launch of Starship took place on March 14, marking the third test flight overall for the vehicle.
