SpaceX launched two dozen more of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit this morning.<\/p>\n
A Falcon 9<\/a> rocket carrying 24 Starlink craft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base<\/a> on California’s central coast today at 12:26 a.m. EDT (0426 GMT; 9:26 p.m. on Sept. 25 local California time).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About 8.5 minutes later, the Falcon 9’s first stage touched down on the SpaceX<\/a> drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You,” which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n It was the 16th flight for this particular booster, which is designated B1082. Twelve of those missions have been Starlink launches.<\/p>\n Meanawhile, the Falcon 9’s upper stage continued carrying the Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit<\/a>, where they’re scheduled to be deployed 62.5 minutes after launch.<\/p>\n Previous Booster 1082 missions<\/p>\n This morning’s liftoff was the 123rd Falcon 9 launch of the year, and the 15th to take place already this September.<\/p>\n The vast majority of the 2025 Falcon 9 launches \u2014 more than 70% of them \u2014 have been dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation. There are now nearly 8,500 active spacecraft in the network, according to<\/a> astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.<\/p>\n