SpaceX has now launched 73 Falcon 9 missions in 2025, of which 55 have been in support of the Starlink service. Friday's mission followed a Starlink launch on Thursday evening from California, which marked the 500th overall Falcon flight.

This year's launch cadence is outpacing last year's by 3½ weeks on Florida's Space Coast: The 50th orbital launch of 2024 did not occur until July 8.

The 23 Starlink satellites, including 13 with direct to cell capabilities were launched on Tuesday morning at 9:05 a.m.