Update 2:40 a.m. EST (0740 UTC): SpaceX confirmed deployment of the 21 Starlink Satellites.
SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket with 21 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on board early Saturday morning. The flight featured a first stage booster flying for a record 26th time.
This was the 14th launch of 2025 with Starlink satellites onboard. Liftoff of the Starlink 12-8 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 1:14 a.m. EST (0614 UTC).
Heading into the launch opportunity, the 45th Weather Squadron, based at Patrick Space Force Base, forecast an 80 percent chance of favorable weather at liftoff.
“Surface high pressure will build off the Mid-Atlantic late Friday into early Saturday,” launch weather officers wrote. “Elevated onshore flow Friday night will increase the chance of coastal showers moving inland during the primary launch window, and with breezy conditions, the Cumulus Cloud Rule and Liftoff Winds are the main concerns for the primary launch window.”
SpaceX used the Falcon 9 first stage booster 1067 on this mission. Its previous flights included four Dragon missions to the International Space Station, Galileo L13 and 14 other Starlink missions.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, it landed on the SpaceX droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ marking the 98th booster landing on ASOG and the 409 landing for SpaceX to date.
Among the 21 Starlink satellites onboard the Falcon 9 rocket were 13 that have Direct to Cell capabilities.
