SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

The Falcon 9 lifts off at 5:47 p.m. EDT (2147 UTC). Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

The day after it helped return three astronauts and a cosmonaut to Earth from the International Space Station, SpaceX launch another batch of Starlink satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Starlink 10-8 mission adds another batch of 22 V2 Mini satellites to SpaceX’s low Earth orbit constellation. This launch broke the record for the most orbital launches from Florida’s Space Coast in a calendar year, which was previously 72 in 2023.

Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) occurred at 5:47 p.m. EDT (2147 UTC).

The Falcon 9 first stage booster for this mission, B1069 in the SpaceX fleet, was flying for a 19th time. It previously supported the launches of SpaceX’s 24th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-24) mission to the International Space Station, OneWeb Launch #15 and 14 previous Starlink flights.

The Falcon 9 climbs away from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1069 touched down on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ It was the 95th landing on JRTI and the 359th booster landing to date.

Starlink 10-8 was also the company’s 69th dedicated Starlink launch of 2024. According to astronomer and expert orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell, as of Oct. 25, there were a total of 6,494 Starlink satellites in LEO.

The Falcon 9 creates a shock collar as it heads north-east from Cape Canaveral. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now.

On Sept. 26, SpaceX announced it reached more than four million customers across the globe. During a presentation at the Starbase launch and test facilities in April, SpaceX founder Elon Musk noted that Starlink had about 2.7 million customers. It reported crossing the three million threshold a little more than a month later.