SpaceX launches 21 Starlink broadband satellites to orbit from Florida (video, photos)

SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit on Wednesday night (March 12).

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink craft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Wednesday at 10:35 p.m. EDT (0235 GMT on March 13).

About 8.5 minutes later, the rocket's first stage came back to Earth, acing its touchdown on the SpaceX drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas." It was the 22nd launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a company mission description.

The rocket's upper stage did its job as well, deploying the 21 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) as planned.

SpaceX has now launched nearly 8,100 Starlink satellites to date, more than 7,000 of which remain operational in LEO, according to satellite tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.

Related: Starlink satellite train: how to see and track it in the night sky

SpaceX has launched 28 Falcon 9 missions so far in 2025, and 20 of them have been Starlink flights.

Wednesday night's launch was supposed to be the second half of a doubleheader from Florida's Space Coast. SpaceX tried to launch the Crew-10 astronaut mission for NASA from Kennedy Space Center, which is next door to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, on Wednesday evening but called the attempt off due to an issue with ground equipment.

SpaceX and NASA are now targeting Friday (March 14) for the Crew-10 launch, which will send four people from three nations to the International Space Station.