SpaceX sends two batches of Starlink satellites on Saturday doubleheader (video)

SpaceX launched two Starlink missions on Saturday (June 28).

Two Falcon 9 rockets carrying the broadband internet satellites lifted off at 12:26 a.m. and 1:13 p.m. EDT (0426 and 1713 GMT) on Saturday, the first from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and the second from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The new additions for SpaceX's megaconstellation (Group 10-34 and Group 15-7) each reached low Earth orbit about 9 minutes after they left the ground and were deployed approximately an hour later.

the first stage of white booster rocket stands on its four landing legs atop a sea-based droneship after launching to space — The first stage of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean after launching Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 28, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Booster 1092 missions

CRS-32 | NROL-69 | GPS III-7 | 2 Starlink missions

Booster 1088 missions

NROL-126 | Transporter-12 | SPHEREx | NROL-57 | 4 Starlink missions

In the interim, the Falcon rockets' first stages (boosters B1092 and B1088) flew back to droneships. On the east coast, the landing was on "A Shortfall of Gravitas," completing the booster's fifth flight. In the Pacific Ocean, the stage touched down on "Of Course I Still Love You," ending its eighth flight to space and back.

The early morning launch carried 27 Starlink satellites and the afternoon liftoff lofted 26 more of the relay satellites, expanding SpaceX's network to more than 7,900 active units, according to satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.

a camera mounted on the side of a rocket captures a downward looking view showing the booster, its fiery engine plume and the Earth below — A camera mounted on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket captures the view of the booster climbing into Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

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Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018.In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.

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