SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites after rare network outage — Here's what you need to know

SpaceX launched 28 more Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit early Saturday morning, July 26. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 5:01 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Pad 40 in Florida, according to the report by UPI.

Falcon 9 booster makes 22nd flight

This Falcon 9 booster was used for the 22nd time. Its past missions included Crew-6 and 17 earlier Starlink launches. About 8 minutes after takeoff, the booster landed successfully on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean.

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SpaceX launch records continue

This was SpaceX’s 91st Falcon 9 launch in 2024 so far. The booster’s landing was the 119th on this drone ship and the 480th overall by SpaceX between Florida and California, according to the report by UPI.

There are now over 8,000 Starlink satellites in orbit. Starlink provides internet to more than 6 million users globally, including 2 million in the U.S. Starlink began its public service in 2021.

Rare starlink outage before launch

On Thursday, Starlink suffered a rare network-wide internet outage starting at 4 p.m. EDT. About 2.5 hours later, SpaceX said most service was restored. 90 minutes after that, full service was back.

Starlink VP Michael Nicholls said the problem was due to “failure of key internal software services” and apologized for the disruption. SpaceX said they are investigating the root cause and will ensure it doesn’t happen again, as stated in the report by UPI.

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What’s next for SpaceX

The next launch is Saturday night at 8:55 p.m. PDT from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California. That launch will carry 24 more Starlink satellites, as mentioned in the report by UPI.

FAQs

Q1. What caused the recent Starlink internet outage?
The outage was caused by a failure in key internal software services that run the Starlink network, says SpaceX.

Q2. How many Starlink satellites did SpaceX launch recently?
SpaceX launched 28 new Starlink satellites into orbit on July 26, 2025