SpaceX Launches its 125th Falcon 9 Rocket of the Year

SpaceX successfully launched its reliable Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California today (Oct. 3). The launch occurred at 10:06 a.m. EDT (14:06 GMT), marking the 125th flight of this rocket this year.

The mission carried 28 Starlink satellites, which were deployed into low Earth orbit (LEO) approximately 62.5 minutes after launch, on schedule. A photo captured from the upper stage of the Falcon 9 shows a stack of satellites with Earth in the background.

view from the upper stage of a rocket in orbit, showing a stack of undeployed satellites with earth in the background — View from the Falcon 9’s upper stage before deployment of the 28 Starlink satellites.

The first stage of the Falcon 9, B1097, returned to Earth and landed in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX droneship “Of Course I Still Love You,” just over eight minutes after liftoff. This was the second flight for this booster, which previously supported another Starlink mission.

More than 70% of Falcon 9 launches in 2025 have been dedicated to expanding the Starlink constellation. Currently, over 8,500 Starlink satellites are in orbit, forming the largest satellite network ever assembled. With approximately 12,500 operational satellites in total, Starlink now accounts for roughly two-thirds of all active spacecraft in orbit, a number expected to grow as more satellites are launched.