SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket, lands booster on ship at sea

Another batch of Starlink wireless internet satellites is in orbit after a full moon-lit SpaceX launch from Florida.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Starlink 12-17 mission Saturday night (April 12) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

The Falcon 9 lifted off from KSC’s historic Launch Complex-39A at 8:53 a.m. EDT (0053, April 13 GMT), carrying a stack of 21 Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO).

The Falcon 9’s first stage, a booster designated B1083, shut down its nine Merlin engines and separated from the rocket’s upper stage about 2.5 minutes into flight.

Approximately six minutes later, B1083 performed a landing burn to safely touch down on SpaceX’s A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

view from the top of a rocket in space, looking down at its firing engines and earth below

(Image credit: SpaceX)

The rocket’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued its ascent into LEO with its 21 payloads. Thirteen of those satellites are equipped with SpaceX’s Direct to Cell technology, which aims to help eliminate cellular dead zones for mobile devices around the globe. In the U.S., SpaceX has partnered with T-Mobile to bring this capability to customers.

About one hour into flightthe Starlink satellites were released to begin individually maneuvering into more specific orbits to join SpaceX’s growing megaconstellation.

Graphic showing the general outline for SpaceX's rocket landing on a droneship at sea.

(Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX’s Starlink network currently consists of more than 7,000 satellites, operating in a grid that blankets nearly all of the planet, save for the polar regions. Starlink offers its users low-latency, high-speed internet from anywhere they are able to receive a satellite signal, with its network growing larger every week.

Saturday’s launch was SpaceX’s 41st Falcon 9 mission of 2025. Twenty-eight of those have launched batches of Starlink satellites to join the constellation.

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