SpaceX launches Falcon 9 with 49 satellites

SpaceX launched Falcon 9 with 49 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday.

Falcon 9's first stage came back to  SpaceX's Of Course I Still Love You droneship 8 minutes and 45 seconds after launch.

It was the seventh launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

The rocket's upper stage will continue carrying the 50 payloads to low Earth orbit.

It will deploy D-Orbit's Ion Satellite Carrier Vehicle #9 (SCV009), capable of carrying a number of payloads of its own, about 58 minutes after launch.

The Falcon 9's upper stage will then deploy the 49 Starlink satellites one hour and 17 minutes after launch, if all goes to plan.

SpaceX has already launched nearly 3,800 Starlink satellites, and the huge constellation will continue to grow.

The company has permission to loft 12,000 of the internet spacecraft.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has applied for approval to deploy about 30,000 more on top of that.

Though it's still very early, Elon Musk's company is on pace to break its single-year record of 61 orbital launches, which it set last year.