SpaceX Launches 29 Starlink Satellites as Blue Origin Blast Hits Cape Canaveral 12 Hours Earlier
Updated
Updated · Space.com · May 29
SpaceX Launches 29 Starlink Satellites as Blue Origin Blast Hits Cape Canaveral 12 Hours Earlier
10 articles · Updated · Space.com · May 29
29 Starlink satellites reached low Earth orbit after a Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 8:57 a.m. EDT and deployed the payload about an hour later.
Booster 1085 completed its 16th flight and landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, helping push Falcon 9 to its 61st launch of 2026 and 644th overall.
12 hours earlier, Blue Origin's New Glenn exploded during a static-fire test at nearby Launch Complex 36, sending up a fireball visible more than 100 miles away.
More than 10,400 active Starlink satellites are now in orbit, extending a network used for broadband in underserved areas as well as in-flight Wi-Fi and some direct-to-cell service.
As companies race to build orbital AI data centers, can we avert the environmental damage from thousands of rocket launches?
With satellite megaconstellations creating an orbital traffic jam, are we one collision away from making space unusable?
Is the promise of global internet access worth the permanent loss of our clear, unobstructed view of the universe?