Coming off a record-setting 2024, SpaceX continued an aggressive launching schedule with the liftoff Wednesday morning of a Falcon 9 rocket that carried 21 Starlink satellites into lower-Earth orbit.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 of the company’s Starlink satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday (Dec. 28). The mission launched at 8:48 p.m. EST (5:48 p.m. PST local time or 0148 GMT on Dec. 29) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E).

SpaceX is set to launch the first batch of its internet satellites this year from Florida's Space Coast today (Jan. 6).

The company has been working with an observatory and the US National Science Foundation to study the effects of lowering its satellites to 350km (217 miles) versus 550km.

SpaceX launches Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Coast

It used to be rare for an orbiting satellite to spoil astronomical observations, but the skies are much more crowded ever since SpaceX began launching its Starlink megaconstellation. The internet satellites regularly pop up in images,