1 of 4 | The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites on mission 10-15 at 4:39 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., on Thursday. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo
Cape Canaveral was the site of two successful rocket launches Thursday morning, one from SpaceX and another from United Launch Alliance.
SpaceX launched its 86th Starlink mission this year. The flight will add another 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to orbit. It has 8,400 already there.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:39 a.m. EDT.
It used the Falcon9 booster with tail number B1080, which made its 22nd flight on this mission. At about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, it landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas. It was the 126th recovery for the ship.
A ULA Atlas V rocket launched at 8:09 a.m. EDT carrying 27 Project Kuiper satellites.
Project Kuiper is Amazon’s satellite internet project and will eventually have about 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit.
Today’s launch was the fifth for this mission after two Atlas V and two Falcon 9 launches that have sent 102 satellites into orbit.
“Named KA-03 for Amazon’s third launch on a ULA Atlas V rocket, the mission sent another 27 satellites into orbit, bringing the total number of Kuiper spacecraft launched to date to 129 satellites,” Amazon said on its mission update page.
This Atlas V, designated AV-108, is a two-stage rocket that incorporates five GEM 63 solid rocket boosters, features a single RL10C-1-1 engine on the Centaur upper stage and encapsulates the spacecraft in a 5.4-meter-diameter (17.7-foot) payload fairing. pic.twitter.com/tNVy1ssnQ5— ULA (@ulalaunch) September 25, 2025
