SpaceX sent the first of its next-generation Starlink internet satellites into orbit in a spectacular takeoff on Monday evening, February 27. Twenty-one of SpaceX’s new Starlink “V2 mini” satellites took off on a Falcon 9 rocket Monday at 18:13 pm ET (23:13 pm GMT) from the Florida Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral. According to a SpaceX Twitter update, this came about five hours later than originally planned due to “space weather”.

The first stage of Falcon 9 returned to Earth, landing on SpaceX’s A Shortfall of Gravitas unmanned spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida 8.5 minutes after takeoff as scheduled. According to SpaceX representatives, this was the third takeoff and landing of this launch vehicle. The booster phase of the rocket continued into low Earth orbit, eventually deploying 21 Starlink satellites as planned. 64.5 minutes after the start.

The 21 V2 Starlink mini-satellite is a test suite designed to be installed on SpaceX’s powerful Falcon 9. The full-size Starlink V2 spacecraft will launch in batches aboard SpaceX’s massive Starship Mars rocket, which has yet to be operational.

According to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, the full-size Starlink V2s are larger and more powerful than the previous generation Starlinks. Each V2 spacecraft will weigh 1.25 tons (1,130 kilograms) and be able to transmit data directly to mobile phones; SpaceX has already announced its intention to do this through a partnership with T-Mobile in 2023.

The Mini V2s are smaller than the full-size version, but still larger and more powerful than any of the other Starlink vehicles SpaceX has released today.

SpaceX wrote on Twitter, “The V2 mini includes key technologies that will enable Starlink to deliver approximately 4x the throughput per satellite over previous iterations, such as more powerful phased antenna arrays and the use of electronic tape for relay communications.” said. Sunday.

V2 minis also feature argon Hall thrusters that have never been used outside of Earth before. In another Sunday tweet, SpaceX said the new engines “have 2.4 times the thrust of our first generation engines and 1.5 times the special thrust.” So far, SpaceX has launched more than 4,000 Starlink satellites for Internet services worldwide, and more satellites are coming: The company has received regulatory approval to repair 12,000 Starlink spacecraft and has applied for permission to deploy nearly 30,000 satellites on it.