SpaceX successfully launched 27 Starlink internet satellites on August 22, 2026, marking a significant milestone for the company. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 3:25 a.m. EDT (0725 GMT; 12:25 a.m. local time), making it the 99th Falcon 9 launch this year and the 100th overall for the Falcon rocket family. The only other Falcon mission this year was a Falcon Heavy launch in April that delivered the telecom satellite Viasat-3 F3.
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Reaching this launch milestone early in the year is notable, but SpaceX aims to exceed its record of 165 launches in a single year, set in 2025, all of which were Falcon 9 missions. Following the launch, the first stage of the Falcon 9 successfully landed in the Pacific Ocean on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You," completing its ninth flight.
After the initial phase, the 27 Starlink satellites journeyed to low Earth orbit, deploying successfully roughly 62 minutes post-launch. With this mission, the Starlink constellation now comprises more than 11,000 operational satellites, further expanding its scale.
Of the 99 Falcon 9 missions so far this year, 76 have been dedicated to deploying Starlink satellites. Looking ahead, SpaceX plans to launch 100,000 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites and establish a constellation of one million data centers in orbit, utilizing its forthcoming Starship megarocket that is currently under development.