CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - SpaceX on Monday night launched 60 more mini internet satellites, this time testing a dark coating to appease stargazers.
The Falcon 9 rocket, recycled for its fourth flight, blasted off from Cape Canaveral around 9:19 p.m.
As the first-stage booster flew to a vertical landing on an ocean platform, the Starlink satellites hurtled toward orbit to join 120 similar spacecraft launched last year.
One of the new satellites is trying out a dark coating to lessen reflectivity.
It's a “first step” compromise between SpaceX and astronomers fearful of having dark skies spoiled by hundreds and, eventually, thousands of bright satellites circling overhead.
