Drone’s view of Sunday’s SpaceX rocket landing

SpaceX launched its 16th mission of the year early Monday, lighting up a nighttime sky with a Falcon 9 rocket to deliver a Canadian-owned commercial communications satellite to orbit.

SpaceX has shipped to Cape Canaveral the first Falcon 9 booster equipped with upgrades to haul heavier cargoes to orbit, aiming for a mid-December launch in the space transport company’s first mission since a June rocket failure grounded the Falcon 9.

The Starlink 10-33 mission was the 35th mission so far in 2026 supporting SpaceX’s low Earth orbit constellation. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 UTC).