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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Florida

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A white and black rocket lifts off into the darkness of night, its bright orange-tinted plume lighting up its launch pad.

SpaceX launched 29 Starlink satellites from Florida early Monday morning (Dec. 14), beating the forecast for poor weather.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 12:25 a.m. EST (0525 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Escaping the threat posed by high winds and cumulous clouds, the two-stage SpaceX launch vehicle reached space about 8 minutes and 40 seconds after leaving the ground.

The Falcon 9's upper stage was set to deploy the 29 Starlink broadband internet relay satellites (Group 6-82) after about an hour, following a coast period and a second firing of its single Merlin engine.

the first stage of an orbital rocket is seen in silhouette, backlit by spotlights, as it stands upright on its landing legs atop an ocean-based droneship.

Booster 1092 missions

CRS-32 | NROL-69 | GPS III-7 | USSF-36 | 4 Starlink missions

Meanwhile, the rocket's first stage completed it use, separated and used its engines to fly back to the Atlantic Ocean and the autonomous drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas." The landing on four deployable legs completed the booster's (B1092) ninth flight.

Monday's launch from Florida followed another successful Starlink deployment flown from California the day before. The east coast mission was SpaceX's 163rd Falcon 9 flight in 2025, with another scheduled for Tuesday (Dec. 16) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

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