Cape Canaveral, Florida – SpaceX launched another batch of 29 Starlink internet satellites toward low Earth orbit on August 11, lifting off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:58 a.m. EDT.

About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage made a pinpoint landing on the SpaceX droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean.

The booster, designated B1085, completed its 18th flight. More than half of its launches have carried Starlink satellites, while it also previously launched the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station in September 2024 and the Fram2 mission around Earth’s poles six months later.

The Falcon 9’s upper stage continued carrying the 29 satellites toward low Earth orbit. They were scheduled for deployment 64 minutes after liftoff.

The launch marked the 93rd Falcon 9 mission of the year, with 72 of those flights dedicated to expanding Starlink, described in the supplied text as the largest satellite constellation ever assembled.

Starlink currently has more than 10,900 active satellites. SpaceX ultimately aims to operate 100,000 larger and more capable Starlink V3 satellites, while Elon Musk has also stated an ambition to launch one million AI data center satellites into Earth orbit.

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