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SpaceX launched its 18th mission of the year earlier today from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch marks the ninth Starlink launch for the year, and SpaceX's 217th mission to date. It comes just hours before SpaceX is due to launch another rocket for telecommunications service provider SES from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as the firm steps up the pace of its launches this year to target 100 missions for the first time in history. Today's mission comes as SpaceX is also heading towards a highly anticipated orbital test flight of the Starship rocket from Boca Chica, Texas - an event that industry watchers have been waiting for years.

SpaceX Launches Latest Batch of 51 Starlink Satellites From California

As of now, SpaceX is launching two separate Starlink satellite generations into orbit. The first of these is version 1.5 satellites, which are an upgrade over the first generation spacecraft that SpaceX used to initially populate its satellite constellation made up of thousands of spacecraft. These satellites feature several changes over their predecessors. The most notable ones are inter-satellite optical connectivity (lasers), which are crucial to providing coverage to regions not covered by SpaceX's ground stations and areas in the ocean. SpaceX first tested the laser satellites in 2020 and began launching them in 2021.

The second category of satellites being launched is the Starlink second-generation spacecraft. These are brand new satellites with several changes over their predecessors, the most notable of which is higher power. Naturally, the spacecraft are also heavier, and SpaceX is constrained by the Falcon 9's payload mass, limiting the number of spacecraft per launch.

They also use two solar panels for more power generation. So far, the company has launched only one batch of new satellites. This launch took place late last month and providedspectacular visuals of the satellites separating from the tension rods on the second stage of the Falcon 9. The first batch of the V2 Mini satellites contained 21 spacecraft.

The V2 Mini satellites launched in February are a lighter version of the full scale second generation spacecraft that SpaceX will launch with the Starship rocket. SpaceX was granted authorization to launch some of the thousands of satellites part of the second generation Starlinks, and it will pay a fine to the FCC should it fail to meet the deployment milestones.

Today's launch was a standard affair, with the Falcon 9 lifting off on the dot at 12:26 pm local time. The Falcon 9's first and second stages separated at close to the two and a half minute mark, with the first stage landing back in the ocean on SpaceX's drone ship a little over six minutes later. This marked the 179th overall landing of a first stage booster and maintained SpaceX's trend of heavily reusing its rockets, especially for the Starlink launches. The booster had successfully launched and landed seven times before today's mission.

SpaceX's next launch is set to take place just hours from now from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Florida. It will launch the SES 18 and 19 satellites to a higher orbit than the low Earth orbit (LEO) used by the Starlink spacecraft. It will be the firm's 18th mission for the year, followed by two expected Starlink launches later this month.