Washington: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) on Saturday launched 28 Starlink satellites into orbit.
In a statement, SpaceX said a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on California's central coast, marking SpaceX's 125th Falcon 9 mission of 2025.
The rocket delivered the payload to low Earth orbit (LEO) roughly an hour after liftoff, the statement read.
This was the second launch and landing for Falcon 9 first-stage booster B1097, which successfully completed its recovery following the mission.
SpaceX noted that more than 70% of Falcon 9 launches in 2025 are dedicated to deploying Starlink, as part of SpaceX's dedication to building the largest satellite constellation ever assembled.
Currently, over 8,500 active Starlink spacecraft are orbiting Earth, out of an estimated 12,500 operational satellites of all kinds.
The figure is expected to rise sharply as SpaceX continues its unrelenting pace of Starlink deployments.
