SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 29 Starlink satellites from Florida

Twenty-nine newly-launched Starlink satellites are now in low Earth orbit.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the internet broadband relay units lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday (Dec. 2). The Starlink satellites were successfully deployed 1 hour and 5 minutes after the 5:18 p.m. EST (2218 GMT) liftoff.

“Deployment of 29 Starlink satellites confirmed,” SpaceX posted to social media.

The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage, Booster 1077 (B1077), completed its ascent and then returned to Earth for a propulsive landing on the autonomous drone ship, “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 25th flight for the rocket, according to a mission description on SpaceX’s website.

The Starlink satellites (Group 6-95) joined the more than 9,100 operational relays forming SpaceX‘s megaconstellation.

Tuesday’s launch was the 155th Falcon 9 flight of 2025, out of SpaceX’s 160 missions in total this year (to date).