A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink satellites was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on February 11 at 9:09 pm EST.
The launch, originally planned for February 10, was delayed by a day. As the rocket ascended, it created a bright trail in the night sky, visible to residents along the West Coast of North America. Many shared videos and photos of the event on social media.
The Falcon 9’s first stage successfully returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff, landing on the SpaceX drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Pacific Ocean, as per a report by Space.com
The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued to carry the 23 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. It deployed them there about 65 minutes after liftoff as planned, according to SpaceX.
According to Space.com, the 23 Starlink satellites are part of SpaceX’s ongoing project to provide high-speed internet to remote and underserved regions worldwide. This launch marked SpaceX’s 445th mission and its 18th Falcon 9 flight of 2025, with 12 of those missions dedicated to Starlink satellites.
The Starlink network currently has more than 6,900 operational satellites. Since the first launch in 2018, SpaceX has sent nearly 7,000 Starlink satellites into orbit, each measuring 9.2 feet in length, 4.6 feet in width, and 0.7 feet in thickness. The company plans to expand the constellation to 42,000 satellites in the future.