Tonight's launch was SpaceX's 54th Falcon 9 mission of 2025 and 56th liftoff so far this year. The other two missions involved Starship, SpaceX's next-generation super-heavy-lift rocket. The company is gearing up for another Starship test flight — the vehicle's ninth overall — in the coming weeks.

Hours before liftoff, the National Weather Service had issued flood advisories up until 8:45 p.m. Friday for portions of rain-socked North Brevard.

In contrast, after last week's launch, Amazon now has just 27 operational Kuipersats. Weighing perhaps 1,260 pounds each versus 1,760 pounds for SpaceX's more robust V2 Minis, Amazon's satellites are presumably less capable than SpaceX's. But are they good enough to compete with Starlink?