SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida's Space Coast (photos)

SpaceX sent another big batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida on Saturday night (April 5).

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink craft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday at 11:07 p.m. EDT (0307 GMT on Sunday, April 6).

About eight minutes after launch, the rocket's first stage came back to Earth for a landing on the SpaceX drone ship "Just Read the Instructions," which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 19th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a company mission description.

a black and white rocket launches into a dark night sky — Saturday's launch was the 39th Falcon 9 mission of the year for SpaceX. (Image credit: SpaceX)

The Falcon 9's upper stage deployed the Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) about an hour after liftoff as planned, SpaceX announced via X.

A rocket launch carves a yellow-orange arc into a dark night sky in this long-exposure photo. — A long-exposure view of the April 5 launch. (Image credit: SpaceX)

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Saturday night's launch was the 39th Falcon 9 mission of 2025. Two-thirds of those flights have been devoted to building out the Starlink megaconstellation, by far the largest satellite network assembled.

SpaceX currently operates more than 7,100 Starlink satellites, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell, and the number is growing all the time.

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Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.