This SpaceX video grab image shows SpaceX's first operational Starlink during launch on a reused Falcon 9 on November 11, 2019 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. - SpaceX targeted, November 11, 2019 at 9:56 a.m. EST, 14:56 UTC, a launch of 60 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. (Photo by HO / SPACEX / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /SPACEX/HANDOUT " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by HO/SPACEX/AFP via Getty Images)
A Falcon 9 blasts off on a mission to bring Starlink satellites into space (Source: AFP)

SpaceX has sent 60 mini-satellites into space to form the second stage of an orbiting network which will provide global internet coverage.

A Falcon rocket blasted into the morning sky of Monday, marking the unprecedented fourth flight of a booster for SpaceX.

Normally, rockets are used just once, but SpaceX is working towards a future where they are used over and over again.

The compact flat-panel satellites are just 575 pounds (260 kilograms) each and will join 60 launched in May.

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk wants to put thousands of these Starlink satellites in orbit, to offer high-speed internet service everywhere. He plans to start service next year in the northern U.S. and Canada, with global coverage for populated areas after 24 launches.

Last month, Musk used an orbiting Starlink satellite to send a tweet which said: ‘Whoa, it worked!!’

Employees gathered at company bases on both coasts cheered when the first-stage booster landed on a floating platform in the Atlantic.

epa07989658 A handout photo made available by SpaceX shows the Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a payload of 60 Starlink satellites, lifting off from a launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 11 November 2019. The Starlink satellites were deployed with the aim of providing high-speed internet connection to remote parts of the planet. EPA/SPACEX / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES
A Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from the launchpad and heads for the heavens (Image: SpaceX)

‘These boosters are designed to be used 10 times. Let’s turn it around for a fifth, guys,’ the company’s launch commentator said.

This also marked the first time SpaceX used a previously flown nose cone. The California-based company reuses rocket parts to cut costs.

Stacked flat inside the top of the rocket, the newest satellites were going to manoeuvre even higher following liftoff, using krypton-powered thrusters. SpaceX said there was a potential problem with one of the 60 that could prevent it from moving beyond its initial 174 mile-high orbit.

In that case, the faulty satellite will be commanded to re-enter and burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere.

Each satellite has an autonomous system for dodging space junk. In September, however, the European Space Agency had to move one of its satellites out of the way of a Starlink satellite. SpaceX later said it corrected the problem.

SpaceX is among several companies interested in providing broadband internet coverage worldwide, especially in areas where it costs too much or is unreliable. Others include OneWeb and Jeff Bezos’ Amazon.

According to Musk, Starlink revenue can help SpaceX develop rockets and spacecraft for travelling to Mars, which is his overriding ambition.