SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit from California (video)

SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit on Thursday (Dec. 4), sending 28 of them up from California’s central coast.

A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 28 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base Thursday at 3:42 p.m. EST (2042 GMT; 12:42 p.m. local California time).

The rocket’s first stage came back to Earth 8.5 minutes later, landing in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You.” It was the fourth flight for this particular booster, which is designated 1097.

The Falcon 9’s upper stage continued carrying the 28 Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit, where they will be deployed about an hour after liftoff, if all goes to plan.

They’ll join a megaconstellation that’s by far the largest ever assembled. SpaceX currently operates more than 9,000 Starlink satellites and has launched more than 10,000 of them over the past 6.5 years.

Today’s launch was the 156th Falcon 9 liftoff of 2025, extending SpaceX’s single-year record. More than 70% of them have been Starlink missions.