A streak shot of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as its launched on the Starlink 10-41 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday, March 1, 2026. Image: John Pisani/Spaceflight Now
Update Mar. 1, 11:03 p.m. EST (0403 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 29 Starlink satellites.
SpaceX started the month of March with successful Falcon 9 launches from both California and Florida on Sunday.
The Starlink 10-41 mission saw the company return to Starlink flights heading off on a north-easterly trajectory, following a run of mostly south-easterly trajectory missions for the better part of four months.
Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 9:56:40 p.m. EST (0256:40 UTC). This was SpaceX’s 22nd mission of the year supporting its broadband internet satellite constellation in low Earth orbit.
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 90 percent chance for favorable weather during the Sunday night launch window, citing a small chance for interference from cumulus clouds.
SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1078. This was its 26th flight after launching previous missions, like Crew-6, Nusantara Lima and USSF-124.
Less than 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1078 landed on the droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. This was the 152nd landing on this vessel and the 580th booster landing for SpaceX to date.
Following the Sunday morning launch of 25 Starlink satellites, SpaceX deployed a total of 566 of its satellites so far this year.