SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks into Florida's night sky carrying Starlink satellites to orbit (video)

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It was the 148th Falcon 9 launch of the year.

SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites in a nighttime liftoff from Florida's Space Coast on Tuesday (Nov. 18).

a black and white rocket launches into a dark night sky

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 29 Starlink satellites from Florida on Nov. 18, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

The rocket's upper stage deployed the 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit as planned about 65 minutes after launch, SpaceX announced via X.

Once they're up and running, the newcomers will push the number of operational Starlink craft above 9,000. That count currently stands at 8,979, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.

a rocket rests on the deck of a ship at night

The Falcon 9's first stage on the drone ship after landing on Nov. 18, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)
Previous Booster 1085 missions

Crew-9 | RRT-1 | Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 | Fram2 | SXM-10 | MTG-S1 | 5 Starlink missions

So far in 2025, SpaceX has launched 148 Falcon 9 missions, 107 of which have been devoted to building out the Starlink megaconstellation.

The company has also launched five suborbital test flights of its giant Starship rocket this year. Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, is designed to be fully and rapidly reusable.

Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, 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.

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