CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, extending the company's rapid deployment schedule for orbital broadband.

The mission carried roughly two dozen second-generation Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. SpaceX streamed the flight live, continuing a weekly launch pattern that has made Starlink deployments the most frequent orbital activity from Florida's Space Coast.

The Falcon 9 first-stage booster returned for a landing on one of SpaceX's droneships in the Atlantic Ocean, marking another reuse of hardware the company has flown repeatedly. This recovery strategy has enabled SpaceX to sustain a launch rate approaching or exceeding 150 Falcon 9 flights annually.

The launch adds to a constellation numbering more than 8,000 operational satellites, the largest ever placed in orbit by a single operator. SpaceX has said the second-generation satellites deliver greater bandwidth per unit and support direct-to-cell service in partnership with mobile carriers.

Astronomers at the International Astronomical Union and other organisations have raised concerns about the constellation's brightness and its effect on ground-based observations. SpaceX has responded by applying darkening coatings and sunshades to its satellites to reduce reflectivity.