For the 20th time at Vandenberg Space Force Base since Jan. 1, a Falcon 9 rocket delivered Starlink satellites into orbit with a Friday morning liftoff. 

The rocket’s departure occurred shortly after midnight from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base, with a crew member declaring “nominal orbit insertion,” signaling a key milestone for successful delivery.

About eight minutes after liftoff, the first-stage booster returned from its 13th flight and landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship parked in the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles south of the Central Coast. 

SpaceX later confirmed the 22 Starlink satellites had deployed, joining thousands of others previously launched from Vandenberg and Florida. 

Designed and built by SpaceX, Starlink provides internet service across the globe including in areas where land-based access remains unreliable or unavailable. 

The West Coast has seen 30 Falcon rockets carry Starlink satellites since September 2021, with missions including both first- and second-generation satellites. 

Those second-generation satellites have four times more capacity than the first-generation spacecraft, according to Starlink. 

Starlink’s high-speed internet service is available on all seven continents in more than 60 countries with more than 2 million customers.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in early November that Starlink had achieved “breakeven cash flow.”

The constellation also makes up the majority of all active satellites. By next year, Starlink will have launched a majority of all satellites curatively from Earth, Musk said.

Friday morning’s SpaceX rocket launch also marked the 91st Falcon flight of 2023, according to Musk.