Falcon 9 ends a three-week Starlink lull, launching 27 satellites from Vandenberg on its booster's 20th flight
SpaceX launched Starlink 15-25 from Vandenberg at 5:28 p.m. PDT on Oct. 12, its first Falcon 9 Starlink mission since Sept. 19. Booster B1088 landed on a droneship and the 27 satellites deployed 62 minutes after liftoff.
Photo: U.S. Space Force SLD 30 / 2nd Lt. Andrew Taller via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (file photo of an April 2026 Falcon 9 Starlink launch from Vandenberg)
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 27 Starlink internet satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 5:28 p.m. PDT on October 12 (8:28 p.m. EDT; 0028 GMT on October 13), Space.com reported. It was the first Starlink mission for a Falcon 9 since September 19.
The first-stage booster, B1088, touched down about 8.5 minutes after launch on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean, completing its 20th launch and landing. The upper stage deployed the 27 satellites in low Earth orbit 62 minutes after liftoff, SpaceX announced on X, according to Space.com.
Space.com said the flight was the 112th Falcon 9 liftoff of 2026 and the 82nd in service of the Starlink constellation, which it says now has more than 11,100 active satellites. During the gap between Falcon 9 Starlink flights, SpaceX's Starship carried 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites on its 14th test flight on September 28.