SpaceX sends 28 Starlink satellites into orbit, completes 400th Falcon 9 droneship landing at sea (video)

SpaceX launched a fresh stack of Starlink internet satellites into orbit Wednesday morning (Aug. 27), and nailed a notable milestone for the company's continued efforts toward rocket reusability.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex-40, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida, at 7:10 a.m. EDT (1110 GMT). This particular batch of Starlinks, Group 10-54, consisted of 28 broadband Starlink satellites, which were deployed in low-Earth orbit (LEO) about an hour later, SpaceX confirmed in a post on X.

It was only the second launch for the Falcon 9 booster supporting the mission, B1095, which executed a successful stage separation 2.5 minutes after liftoff. Six minutes later, B1095 performed a deceleration and landing burn, and touched down on SpaceX's Just Read the Instructions droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

This was the 400th successful droneship landing for SpaceX. The company's first droneship landing occurred during the launch of NASA's CRS-8 cargo mission to the International Space Station in April 2016, on Of Course I Still Love You. Since then, SpaceX also added A Shortfall of Gravitas to their droneship fleet, which is stationed on opposite coasts for launches out Florida as well as Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Starlink 10-56 was was SpaceX's 108th mission so far in 2025, and follows the successful test launch of Starship Flight 10 on Tuesday night. Starship is SpaceX's next generation heavy lift rocket being designed for full reusability. The company has successfully caught three of the vehicle's Super Heavy boosters during Starship's test campaign, and made significant strides forward in the development of the rocket's Ship upper stage to eventually accomplish the same.

SpaceX's Starlink megaconstellation currently totals more than 8,100 satellites in LEO. They provide nearly-worldwide coverage to Starlink subscribers to access low-latency high speed internet. The company also plans to begin launching more powerful Starlinks aboard Starship, once it reaches operational capability, with the goal of expanding the Starlink network's speed and coverage.