SpaceX Launches 116th Falcon 9 Mission of 2026 From California

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Oct. 23, carrying 27 Starlink satellites into orbit. The rocket lifted off from Pad 4E at 3:48 p.m. local time in California. The payload was designated Starlink Group 15-15.

The first stage booster, B1063, separated from the upper stage about 2.5 minutes into flight. It then returned for a landing on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" roughly 20 seconds after a landing burn began past the eight-minute mark. The mission marked the 36th launch and landing for B1063, which also carried NASA's DART asteroid mission in November 2021.

Deployment of the 27 satellites was scheduled to begin 62 minutes after liftoff. The mission brought the active Starlink constellation to more than 11,000 spacecraft. It was the 116th Falcon 9 flight of 2026, with about three-quarters of the year's launches dedicated to Starlink.

Falcon 9 launches have slowed this year. The previous Starlink mission lifted off 11 days before Oct. 23, and that flight had itself followed a gap of more than three weeks. These missions previously ran every two to three days at their peak. The reduced pace means 2025, when the rocket flew 165 times, will likely remain the Falcon 9's busiest year. At the current rate, the rocket is expected to fly just under 150 missions by year's end.

SpaceX is shifting focus to its Starship rocket, which is designed for full reusability and can carry Version 3 Starlink satellites that are too large for Falcon 9. Starship remains in development. Once operational flights begin, SpaceX plans to phase out Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy almost entirely. The 100th Falcon 9 launch of 2026, the Starlink 10-49 group from Cape Canaveral, was the final Falcon 9 Starlink mission to fly from Florida's Space Coast.