April 7 (UPI) — SpaceX utilized a new first-stage booster when it launched 27 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday.
The new Falcon 9 first-stage booster, B1091, was the second new booster that SpaceX introduced so far this year after the B1092 used on the Starlink mission that launched in February.
Liftoff was 4:06 p.m. PDT as clouds obscured the launch. The mission could have launched Tuesday starting at 2:13 p.m. PDT.
The booster landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship in the Pacific Ocean after stage separation. It was the 124th booster landing for the droneship and the 428th booster landing to date.
The satellites were carried into low-Earth orbit.
On Saturday night, SpaceX launched 28 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex pad 40. It lifted off at 11:07 p.m. and it was the 19th flight of the first-stage booster.
On Wednesday, United Launch Alliance will launch an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral’s pad 41 with 27 Amazon satellites. The launch window is 7-9 p.m.
It will be the heaviest load for an Atlas 5 with five solid rocket boosters.
These are the first production satellites by Amazon, which plans 3,236.