When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites early this morning (Jan. 21), five days after a test flight of the company's Starship megarocket ended in an explosion. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday at 12:24 a.m. EST (0524 GMT). The Falcon 9's first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff as planned, touching down in the Atlantic Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas." The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rests on a drone ship shortly after launching 21 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida on Jan. 21, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX) It was the eighth launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Four of those flights have been Starlink missions. You may like