SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites from California
SpaceX on August 26 launched 27 Starlink broadband internet satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base on California’s central coast. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 5:35 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, or 09:35 GMT.
First-stage landing
About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 first stage made a planned landing on SpaceX’s Of Course I Still Love You drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. This was the 24th flight for booster B1082.
The rocket’s second stage continued gaining altitude. Deployment of the 27 satellites into low Earth orbit was scheduled for 62 minutes after launch, Space.com reports.
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101st Falcon 9 launch since the start of the year
This launch was the 101st Falcon 9 flight in 2026. Of these, 78 missions were dedicated to deploying Starlink satellites. According to the publication’s estimate, Falcon 9 could carry out about 155 launches by the end of the year. This is fewer than the record 165 launches set in 2025.
The Starlink network, which Space.com calls the largest satellite constellation ever created, already has more than 11,000 active spacecraft. Earlier Starlink missions aboard Falcon 9 were launched from both Vandenberg and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. On August 25, SpaceX announced a suspension of Starlink launches from Florida until they can be carried out by the Starship rocket, which is under development.
