<\/p>\n The rocket’s first stage came back to Earth as planned, touching down about 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the SpaceX<\/a> drone ship “Just Read the Instructions.” It was the 27th touchdown for this particular booster and the company’s 500th successful recovery of an orbital-class rocket overall, according to SpaceX<\/a>. (SpaceX has two operational orbital-class rockets at the moment \u2014\u00a0the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy<\/a>.)<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Falcon 9 launches 28 @Starlink satellites from Florida and completes the 500th launch and landing of an orbital class booster pic.twitter.com\/hPvsctf7tgSeptember 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \n The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on its four deployed legs atop the droneship “Just Read the Instructions,” after launching 28 Starlink satellites on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)<\/p>\n The Falcon 9’s initial ascent was completed in under nine minutes, followed by about a 45-minute coast. The Starlink<\/a> satellites (known as Group 10-57<\/a>) are scheduled to be deployed from the Falcon 9’s second stage one hour and 4 minutes after the launch.<\/p>\n The Starlink megaconstellation now numbers<\/a> more than 8,370 active satellites.<\/p>\n Today’s launch was SpaceX<\/a>‘s 111th Falcon 9 mission of 2025, out of a total of 529 since 2010.<\/p>\n\n
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