SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites into orbit from Florida (video)

News
By published

Liftoff occurred at 4:08 p.m. EST on Monday (Jan. 12).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Florida on Monday (Jan. 12).

a white and black rocket lifts off from its launch pad, leaving a large white plume

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX)
Booster 1085 missions

Crew-9 | RRT-1 | Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 | Fram2 | SXM-10 | MTG-S1 | 6 Starlink missions

The launch was the 13th flight of the Falcon 9's first stage, Booster 1078. It again performed a successful propulsive landing, touching down on the droneship "A Shortfall of Gravitas" in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Starlink service offers broadband internet access, especially in areas around the world where other means of connectively is not present. The megaconstellation of nearly 9,500 active satellites also supports wifi on airliners and cell-to-satellite capabilities for select carriers.

Monday's launch was SpaceX's fifth for the year out of 615 over the history of the company.

Robert Z. Pearlman
Robert Z. Pearlman
collectSPACE.com Editor, Space.com Contributor

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.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.