The launch of a new batch of SpaceX Starlink satellites lit up the predawn sky in southern California today (Dec. 10) as the company marked its 160th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket this year.

A new group of Starlink satellites are deployed into Earth orbit after launching from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California on Dec. 10, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Previous Booster 1082 missions

The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket completed its 18th flight, landing back on the autonomous droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" positioned in the Pacific Ocean.

The Starlink megaconstellation now numbers more than 9,000 operational satellites, including the more than 3,000 launched just this year. The network provides access to the internet to areas around the world whether there was no or sparse coverage, as well as enables wifi access on commercial airliners and cell-to-satellite service on select providers.

Wednesday’s launch was SpaceX’s 165th overall launch (including Starship test flights) and 605th mission in the company’s history.

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Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018.

In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.