SpaceX marks 5th anniversary of first Starlink customer with Sunday satellite launch

SpaceX launches its Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 10-21 mission on Oct. 26, 2025. Image: John Pisani / Spaceflight Now

Update Oct. 26, 1 p.m. EDT (1700 UTC): SpaceX confirmed deployment of its 28 Starlink satellites.

SpaceX completed a Sunday morning Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, flying more of its Starlink broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. The mission coincided with the fifth anniversary of SpaceX acquiring its first paying customer to use the broadband internet service.

The Starlink 10-21 mission was also the 230th launch of the V2 Mini variety of its Starlink satellites. The 28 satellites were added to growing constellation of more than 8,700 spacecraft in orbit, which support more than seven million customers worldwide.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) to begin the mission. The satellites deployed from the rocket’s upper stage a little more than an hour after liftoff.



The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 85 percent chance for favorable weather at the opening of the window, but noted that it decreases to 70 percent favorability as the window progresses. The primary concern for meteorologists are cumulus clouds.

“By Sunday morning, the low off the coast lifts just north of the Spaceport, further unsettling the atmosphere,” launch weather officers wrote. “Additionally, a separate low-pressure system with associated frontal boundaries currently over south-central CONUS will move across the southeast further unsettling the atmosphere and injecting additional moisture into the area.”

SpaceX launched this mission with one of its most flowing Falcon 9 boosters, tail number B1077. This was its 24th flight with previous missions including Crew-5, CRS-28 and NG-20.

Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1077 landed on the drone ship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’. This was the 130th landing on this vessel and the 524th booster landing to date.

SpaceX launches its Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 10-21 mission on Oct. 26, 2025. Image: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now

The Starlink 10-21 mission launch came a week after SpaceX launched its 10,000th Starlink satellite to date. In that week, SpaceX launched a trio of Falcon 9 rockets with 84 satellites in total.

The company noted during the Starship Flight 10 mission broadcast earlier this year that it produces roughly 70 satellites each week at its facilities in Redmond, Washington.