SpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites on its 3rd mission of 2026 (video)

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Liftoff occurred at 4:41 p.m. ET on Friday (Jan. 9).

SpaceX's third mission of 2026 is in the books.

A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 29 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday (Jan. 9) at 4:41 p.m. EST (2141 GMT).

About 8.5 minutes later, the rocket's first stage landed in the Atlantic Ocean on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions." It was the 29th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

a black-and-white spacex falcon 9 rocket launches into a blue sky.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 29 Starlink satellites from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Jan. 9, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX)

The Falcon 9's upper stage deployed the 29 satellites into low Earth orbit on schedule about 65 minutes after liftoff, SpaceX announced via X.

Starlink is by far the largest satellite constellation ever assembled. It currently consists of more than 9,400 active spacecraft, and that number is growing all the time.

Friday's launch was SpaceX's third of 2026. In 2025, the company launched 165 orbital missions, nearly three-quarters of them dedicated Starlink flights.

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Spaceflight and Tech Editor

Michael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.