SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites to orbit from California

a black and white rocket lifts off from its launch pad into a partially cloudy blue sky

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California on April 3, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX sent 27 of its Starlink internet satellites toward low Earth orbit from California this evening (April 3).

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink craft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base today at 9:02 p.m. EDT (6:02 p.m. local California time; 0102 GMT on April 4).

A little over eight minutes later, the rocket's first stage touched down on the SpaceX drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You," which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean. It was the fifth launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a company mission description.

If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9's upper stage will deploy the Starlink satellites about an hour after liftoff.

Tonight's launch followed up a SpaceX doubleheader on Monday (March 31), when the company lofted another Starlink batch as well as the Fram2 private astronaut mission, the first-ever human spaceflight to orbit over Earth's poles.

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a first stage of a rocket with four legs deployed is seen after landing on an ocean-based droneship — The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lands on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, on April 3, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX has now launched 38 Falcon 9 missions so far in 2025, about two-thirds of which have been devoted to building out the Starlink megaconstellation.

Starlink is by far the largest satellite network ever assembled. It currently consists of more than 7,100 operational spacecraft, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.

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Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.