SpaceX launches latest Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral
SpaceX knocked out another Starlink launch from Florida's Space Coast on May 14.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 of the company's internet satellites lifted off at 12:38 p.m. Eastern time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40.
The first-stage booster for the mission made its fourth flight, making another recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.
The launch was the 42nd orbital mission from the Space Coast in 2025 with all but two coming from SpaceX. Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was also the launch site for a hypersonic missile test this year for the Army.
The other two orbital launches were from Blue Origin with the debut of its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket back in January, and United Launch Alliance with an Atlas V launch last month.
Blue Origin has yet to announce a date it might try for a second launch, but had stated earlier this year it would be in the spring. ULA has several more missions on tap this year, including a potential second Atlas V launch in early June to fly up the second batch of customer Amazon's satellites for its Project Kuiper internet constellation, a competitor to SpaceX's Starlink. Amazon's first batch on the April launch totaled 27, but the company has lined up more than 80 more launches to grow that number.
Project Kuiper's constellation aims to total more than 3,600 satellites by 2028. SpaceX's Starlink, which has already had more than 8,500 satellites launched since 2019, has nearly 6,700 that remain operational in orbit, according to statistics maintained by astronomer Jonathan McDowell.
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