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Oct. 26 (UPI) -- SpaceX on Saturday successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload of 22 Starlink Internet communications satellite from Cape Canaveral in Florida, marking a state record 73rd orbital rocket launch this year.

The Falcon 9 rose from Launch Complex 40 at the Kennedy Space Center as scheduled at 5:47 p.m. EDT.

Less than 10 minutes later, the first-stage booster used in 18 previous launches landed safely aboard SpaceX's drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.

Saturday's launch was the 100th Falcon 9 mission for the company so far in this year -- 66 of them have been to deploy Starlink satellites into the network's low-orbit megaconstellation, according to Space.com.

Meanwhile, local officials along Florida's Space Coast celebrated the 73rd launch of 2024, the most ever in a single calendar year with more than two months remaining.