SpaceX launches imaging satellite plus own broadband demos 

The rocket also carried a pair of SpaceX’s own broadband satellites as a secondary payload. Microsat-2a and -2b are the first prototypes for the company’s planned constellation of satellites — dubbed Starlink — intended to offer broadband internet around the world. “If successful, Starlink constellation will serve least served,” Musk said in a Tweet Wednesday.

SpaceX’s fourth launch in what is expected to be a record year took off from the California pad at around 6:17 AM local time. SpaceX is targeting roughly 30 total launches this year, including flying its new Falcon Heavy rocket again in June. The PAZ satellite appeared to deploy successfully during SpaceX’s webcast.

The company didn’t attempt to recover the rocket’s first stage, which flew previously in an August mission. SpaceX did try to catch the fairing, or nosecone, using netting on a ship, but it “missed by a few hundred meters,” Musk said in a Tweet. “Fairing landed intact in water,” he said. “Should be able catch it with slightly bigger chutes to slow down descent.”