SpaceX Launches Starlink 4-17 with 53 more Starlink satellites

Launch of Starlink 4-17 | Credit: Supercluster

On Friday, May 6 at 5:42am EDT (9:42 UTC), SpaceX launched the Starlink 4-17 mission with 53 Starlink v1.1 satellites atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Starlink is SpaceX's high-speed broadband satellite internet designed to provide internet for people in remote areas. The first stage for this mission (B1058), which previously flew on DM-2, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter 1, Transporter 3, and 6 Starlink missions, landed on the "A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 50th orbital launch attempt of 2022, 261st SpaceX mission, and 153rd Falcon 9 launch.