SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 Starlink communications satellites at 1505 GMT on 17 February from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA. The attempt to land the core stage on the landing barge “Of Course I Still Love You” failed and it splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean near the drone ship.

The Falcon 9 Core Stage B1056 got its control vanes out on its fourth flight, but still failed to land successfully. Courtesy: SpaceX
The crashed core stage used for this launch was B1056 stage and it was flying its fourth space mission. It was last used for the launch of JCSAT 18 on 16 December 2019. The attempt to catch and recover the two halves of the fairing also failed and they splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.
This was the fifth (four main) Starlink launch flown to date. Some 37 of the 40 Falcon 9 launches planned for this year are dedicated to the launch of the Starlink communications satellite constellation.
David Todd contributed to this story.