SpaceX Launches 28 Starlink Satellites, Announces Ax-4 Crewed Launch Date for June 22
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soared from Cape Canaveral early Wednesday morning, June 18, propelling 28 Starlink broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit. The Starlink 10-18 mission lifted off at 1:55 a.m. from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with the majority of East-Central Florida clear of significant cloud cover. Designed, owned, and operated by SpaceX, the Starlink constellation now connects over 6 million people with high-speed internet in 140 countries, territories, and other markets. Since June 6, Starlink officials have announced that the list now includes Dominica, the Marshall Islands, and Guinea-Bissau. Roughly three hours before the Starlink liftoff, NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX made headlines by announcing that the Ax-4 crewed mission will target a launch at 3:42 a.m. on Sunday, June 22, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The four Ax-4 private astronauts will lift off inside a SpaceX Dragon atop a Falcon 9. However, their mission was delayed to allow for small-leak repairs in the 43-foot-long Russia-built Zvezda service module of the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 first-stage booster used during the June 18 Starlink mission logged its fifth flight, according to SpaceX. This relatively new booster previously launched SES O3b mPOWER-E, Crew-10, Bandwagon-3, and one Starlink mission. Following stage separation, the booster descended and landed on the SpaceX drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. The Starlink mission marked the 51st orbital rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and KSC in 2025. For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space or sign up for our weekly Space newsletter. Space is important to us, and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.
