Update June 18, 3:15 a.m. EDT: SpaceX confirms deployment of the 28 Starlink satellites.
SpaceX completed its 75th Falcon 9 rocket launch of the year with a mission that blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the predawn hours of Wednesday. The mission, dubbed Starlink 10-18, included the 9,000th Starlink satellite launched to low Earth orbit to date.
The Falcon 9 rocket took a north-easterly trajectory following liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:55 a.m. EDT (0555 UTC).
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a greater than 95 percent chance of favorable weather at liftoff. Meteorologists said possible evening showers should dissipate ahead of the opening of the launch window.
SpaceX used the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1090 to launch the Starlink 10-18 mission. This was its fifth trip to space and back following the launches of SES’ O3b mPOWER 7&8, NASA’S Crew-10, Bandwagon-3 and Starlink 6-67.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1090 landed on the droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ This marked the 125th landing on this vessel and the 464th booster landing to date.
With the deployment of the 28 Starlink satellites, SpaceX has now launched 9,003 Starlink satellites to date. The company launched more than 1,300 in 2025 alone up to this point.
According to the latest stats compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an expert orbital tracker and astronomer, there are currently about 7,800 Starlink satellites remaining in low Earth orbit.
