The Falcon 9 flight on Memorial Day weekend marks the launch of 23 Starlink satellites by SpaceX.

 As hundreds of spectators gathered along Florida’s Space Coast, SpaceX conducted its 45th Starlink launch of the year, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched on the Starlink 12-22 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at 1:19 p.m. EDT (1719 UTC).

On Friday, the 45th Weather Squadron predicted an 80 percent likelihood of good weather at the start of the launch window, which decreases to 60 percent as the nearly four-hour window continues.

"Weather officers stated that isolated showers are anticipated to develop along the sea breeze front in the early afternoon; however, the presence of dry air in the mid-levels will initially limit their vertical growth." “Nevertheless, by mid to late afternoon, stronger thunderstorms are expected to form inland as heating and instability rise.”

"Westerly winds in the upper atmosphere could direct those storms and their accompanying anvil clouds back toward the coast at the conclusion of the launch window each day."

SpaceX employed its fourth most frequently launched Falcon booster for this mission, tail number B1069, which is set to fly for the 24th time. Its prior missions encompass SpaceX’s 24th Commercial Resupply Services launch to the International Space Station, as well as OneWeb Mission 15 and two sets of Starlink satellites.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to initiate the Starlink 12-22 mission on Saturday, May 24, 2025.

 Just over eight minutes post-liftoff, B1069 touched down on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ This marked the 110th touchdown for this spacecraft and the 451st booster landing so far.

Aboard the Falcon 9 rocket were 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, with 13 featuring Direct to Cell capabilities. Before Saturday’s launch, SpaceX had sent 234 of these cellular-enabled satellites into low Earth orbit.