SpaceX Launches 27 Starlink Satellites on 100th Falcon Mission of 2026
Updated
Updated · Space.com · Aug 22
SpaceX Launches 27 Starlink Satellites on 100th Falcon Mission of 2026
3 articles · Updated · Space.com · Aug 22
Summary
A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg at 0725 GMT carrying 27 Starlink satellites, marking SpaceX's 100th Falcon mission of 2026 and its 99th Falcon 9 launch this year.
B1100 completed its ninth flight by landing on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, while the satellites deployed into low Earth orbit just under 62 minutes later.
76 of this year's 99 Falcon 9 missions have carried Starlink payloads, expanding a constellation that already has more than 11,000 operational spacecraft.
SpaceX still trails its 2025 record of 165 Falcon launches, but the pace supports its longer-term plan to deploy 100,000 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites using the still-in-development Starship.