SpaceX launches Starlink satellites from California, Florida over six hours
by Allen Cone
Washington DC (UPI) May 10, 2025
SpaceX launched two batches of Starlink satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket in a little more than six hours late Friday and early Saturday from California and Florida.
First, the private agency launched 26 satellites to low Earth orbit at 5:19 p.m. PDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base pad 4E East in California. It was the 14th launch of this booster, including six previous Starlink missions.
About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the booster landed on SpaceX’s Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, in the Pacific Ocean.
The flight was delayed three times, Spaceflightnow.com reported.
Then at 2:28 a.m., SpaceX launched 28 satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This was the 11th flight for the 229-foot first stage booster, which previously included Crew-8 and six Starlink missions.
About eight minutes after liftoff, the booster landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean
This mission was the 40th orbital launch of the year at the Space Coast from Space Force and nearby Kennedy Space Center, a pace that is faster than last year, when SpaceX had 93 launches from facility.
In all, there have been 250 Falcon 9 launches from pad 40.
Overall, there have been 55 Falcon 9 launches from either state this year, Space.com reported.
SpaceX’s Starlink network consists of more than 7,000 operational satellites that provide high-speed internet connections from anywhere other than the Earth’s poles.
The next SpaceX launch is scheduled for 12:24 a.m. Sunday from KSC’s pad 39A.
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