Early on October 7, SpaceX successfully propelled a fresh contingent of its Starlink broadband satellites into Earth’s orbit, continuing the expansion of its global internet constellation.

A Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 28 Starlink satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today. The mission lifted off at 2:46 a.m. EDT (0646 GMT), ascending from the Space Coast in the early morning hours.

The rocket’s first stage successfully completed its planned return to Earth, executing a precise landing in the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the booster touched down on the deck of the SpaceX drone ship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’

The B1090 booster has now completed an impressive eight launch and landing cycles.

The Falcon 9’s upper stage continued its trajectory, propelling the Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO). Their deployment was scheduled for approximately 64 minutes after liftoff.

Today’s mission secured the 126th flight of the year for SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, simultaneously pushing the company’s cumulative launch tally to 130.

Four previous missions involved suborbital test flights of the Starship megarocket, a colossal vehicle being developed to facilitate human settlement on Mars. The fifth Starship experimental launch of the year is scheduled for October 13.