SpaceX launched 26 satellites to low Earth orbit at 5:19 p.m. PDT on Friday from Vandenberg Space Force Base pad 4E East in California. Photo courtesy SpaceX.
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.
Falcon 9 launches 26 @Starlink satellites to orbit from pad 4E in California pic.twitter.com/Obwy1WJy8w— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 10, 2025
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.
Watch Falcon 9 launch 26 @Starlink satellites to orbit from California https://t.co/wwh1ynXjzV— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 10, 2025
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.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/LA2ZFyhFew— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 10, 2025
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.
