SpaceX just sent two dozen more of its Starlink internet satellites to space.
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 24 Starlink craft lifted off from foggy Vandenberg Space Force Base on California’s central coast today (Sept. 19) at 12:31 p.m. EDT (1631 GMT; 9:31 a.m. local California time).
About 8.5 minutes later, the Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth as planned, landing on the SpaceX drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You,” which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean. It was the 10th launch and landing for this particular booster, which carries the designation B1088.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage continued carrying the 24 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. It will deploy the spacecraft there a little over 62 minutes after liftoff, if all goes to plan.
Previous Booster 1088 missions
There are already nearly 8,400 active satellites in the Starlink network, which is by far the largest constellation of spacecraft ever assembled.
Today’s launch was the 118th Falcon 9 liftoff of 2025. More than 70% of them of have been Starlink missions.