SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida

SpaceX extended its single-year launch record on Monday night (Nov. 10), sending yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites up from Florida’s Space Coast.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off off Monday at 10:21 p.m. EST (0321 GMT on Nov. 11) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying 29 Starlink spacecraft toward low Earth orbit (LEO).

The rocket’s first stage returned to Earth as planned 8.5 minutes later. It made a vertical, propulsive landing on the SpaceX drone ship “Just Read the Instructions,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It was the third flight for this particular booster, which is designated 1096. On its previous missions, the first stage launched NASA’s IMAP space-weather mission and a batch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband satellites.

The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying the 29 Starlink satellites to LEO, where they were deployed as planned about 65 minutes after launch.

Monday’s launch was the 144th Falcon 9 mission of 2025, and the 104th of the year devoted to building out the Starlink megaconstellation. SpaceX has also launched five suborbital test flights of its Starship megarocket so far this year, bringing its total number of liftoffs to 149.

Those are both records. The previous highs were 132 Falcon 9 launches and 138 total liftoffs, both set in 2024.