Falcon 9 Starlink Launch

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off before sunrise Tuesday from Cape Canaveral and put 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. (spacex.com) SpaceX scheduled the Starlink 10-24 mission for April 14, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with liftoff at 5:13 a.m. Eastern. The company said the satellites deployed about 1 hour and 1 minute after launch. (spacex.com) The first-stage booster on this flight was making its 26th trip, after earlier missions including Axiom Mission 2, Euclid, Axiom Mission 3, Commercial Resupply Services 30, SES ASTRA 1P and Northrop Grumman 21. SpaceX said the booster was set to land on the droneship *Just Read the Instructions* in the Atlantic Ocean. (spacex.com) Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite internet system, which uses spacecraft in low Earth orbit instead of much higher, farther-out satellites. SpaceX says that lower orbit lets the network deliver broadband service with lower delay for video calls, gaming and other real-time uses. (spacex.com) The bright plume seen from Florida and Georgia came from a launch just before sunrise, when the ground stayed dark but the rocket’s high-altitude exhaust was already in sunlight. The Georgia Sun reported the effect was visible across north Georgia and called it the “jellyfish effect.” (thegeorgiasun.com) USA Today reported this was the 27th orbital rocket launch of 2026 from Florida’s Space Coast. Fox 35 Orlando said the Falcon 9 rose at about 5:33 a.m. Eastern, reflecting the fast launch pace SpaceX has maintained from Cape Canaveral. (usatoday.com, fox35orlando.com) SpaceX’s launch rate has been climbing for years as Starlink flights fill much of its schedule. NASASpaceFlight counted 138 SpaceX launches in 2024, including 134 Falcon missions, after the company used Starlink deployments to keep both coasts busy. (nasaspaceflight.com) Tuesday’s flight turned a routine satellite deployment into a regional skywatching event, with the rocket’s glowing trail visible well beyond Florida’s coast. The mission still ended the same way most Starlink flights do: another batch of satellites joining a growing internet network overhead. (thegeorgiasun.com, spacex.com)