SpaceX launches Starlink satellites from California

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — A SpaceX rocket has carried 53 satellites for the Starlink internet constellation into orbit. The Falcon 9 booster lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California Friday afternoon. Minutes later, the first stage landed on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean. The second stage continued toward low Earth orbit, and SpaceX later confirmed that all satellites had been deployed. Starlink is a space-based system that SpaceX has been building for years to bring internet access to underserved areas of the world. Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX has hundreds of Starlink satellites orbiting Earth at an altitude of 340 miles.