SpaceX launches new round of Starlink satellites after Sunday scrub

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- SpaceX successfully launched a new round of 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit on Monday morning after a previous launch opportunity was scrubbed on Sunday.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 6:38 a.m. EDT and SpaceX confirmed the satellite payload was deployed about an hour later.

"Rise and shine with Falcon 9," SpaceX wrote on social media .

The launch from the Kennedy Space Center just after dawn was the 17th flight for the first stage booster, which landed safely on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.

The rocket took a northeastern trajectory before the first-stage booster detached and returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff.

SpaceX did not explain the mission's scrub on Sunday. It was 46 seconds away from launching before the pause.

"Vehicle and payload are in good health and teams are resetting for a launch attempt on Monday, Aug. 12," SpaceX said.

SpaceX did manage to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with a pair of communication satellites for Norway's Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission from California on Sunday. That rocket carried two ASBE satellites into space from the Vandenberg Space Force Center.

The satellites, built by Northrop Grumman, are expected to expand broadband coverage to the Arctic region for U.S. Space Force and Space Norway AS.