SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida (photos)
So many Starlink launches.

SpaceX has launched another Starlink mission, keeping a steady pace of adding to the satellite megaconstellation every few days.
A Falcon 9 rocket launched SpaceX's Starlink 6-75 mission Thursday night (May 1) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. The Space Coast liftoff occurred at 9:51 p.m. EDT (0151 GMT on May 2) from CCSFS's Launch Complex-40 (LC-40) .
The rocket carried 28 new Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO), where they will join a constellation of more than 7,200 broadband satellites.
Main engine cutoff of the Falcon 9 booster's nine Merlin engines occurred about 2.5 minutes into flight, followed quickly by stage separation. The rocket's first stage, a booster designated B1080, executed a retrograde burn to slow its velocity as the second stage continued on to LEO.
Approximately eight minutes after liftoff, B1080 landed safely on SpaceX's Just Read the Instructions drone ship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 18th launch of B1080 and the booster's 12th Starlink mission.
The rocket's upper stage continued toward LEO with its 28 Starlink satellites and deployed them there one hour into flight as planned. They will spend the next few days maneuvering into more specific orbits to join SpaceX's growing megaconstellation.
SpaceX's Starlink network consists of more than 7,200 satellites and counting, operating in a grid to form a lattice across nearly all of the planet, save for the poles. Starlink offers users a high-speed internet connection from anywhere (other than the poles) they are able to point their Starlink receiver toward the sky.
Get the Space.com Newsletter
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
Thursday's launch was SpaceX's 51st Falcon 9 mission of 2025, and the company's 34th Starlink launch so far this year. The company has also launched two test flights of its Starship megarocket in 2025.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Josh Dinner is the Staff Writer for Spaceflight at Space.com. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution of NASA's commercial spaceflight partnerships and crewed missions from the Space Coast, as well as NASA science missions and more. He also enjoys building 1:144-scale model rockets and human-flown spacecraft. Find some of Josh's launch photography on Instagram and his website, and follow him on X, where he mostly posts in haiku.
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.