Overview

• SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral carrying 28 Starlink satellites, marking booster B1067’s 31st mission and a new reuse record.
• The first stage returned roughly 8.5 minutes after liftoff for a precise landing on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic.
• The upper stage deployed all 28 Starlink spacecraft to low Earth orbit about 64 minutes after launch.
• SpaceX reports 10,006 Starlink satellites launched to date with about 8,655 currently in orbit, and this flight marked the company’s 132nd orbital launch of the year.
• China’s Zhuque-3 completed fueling rehearsals and a static fire and has entered final preparations for a planned first flight this year, with the LOX–methane rocket rated at about 570 tonnes liftoff mass, roughly 66 meters in length, and at least 18.3 tonnes payload capacity for reusable first-stage operations supporting high-density constellation and larger missions.