Falcon 9 Deploys Starlink as Launch Gaps Widen

SpaceX launched a batch of 27 Starlink broadband satellites from the California coast on Oct. 23, continuing a deployment schedule that has become less frequent as the company prepares for its next-generation rocket.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:48 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The payload fairing carried the spacecraft of Starlink Group 15-15 into low Earth orbit. The first stage booster, identified as B1063, separated from the upper stage 2.5 minutes after liftoff. The booster landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You eight minutes into the mission. This marked the 36th landing for that specific vehicle, which previously launched NASA’s DART mission in November 2021.

The upper stage is scheduled to perform a second engine burn approximately 45 minutes after liftoff to insert the satellites into their final orbits. Deployment of the 27 spacecraft was set to begin 62 minutes after the rocket left the pad.

This launch adds to a constellation of more than 11,000 active Starlink spacecraft. The reduced frequency of these missions reflects a strategic shift toward Starship, a larger and fully reusable vehicle currently in development. Starship is designed to carry Version 3 Starlink satellites, which are too large for the Falcon 9 payload bay. SpaceX intends to phase out the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets once Starship becomes operational.

The slowing pace is evident in recent launch gaps. The 100th Falcon 9 launch of 2026 was the final Starlink mission to fly from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The previous Starlink launch from the West Coast occurred 11 days before the Oct. 23 mission. That earlier flight was itself the first launch in more than three weeks. At peak activity, these missions launched every two to three days.

The Oct. 23 flight was the 116th Falcon 9 mission of 2026, with roughly 75% of the year’s launches dedicated to Starlink. The rocket completed 165 launches in 2025, its highest annual total to date. At the current rate, the Falcon 9 is projected to fly just under 150 missions by the end of 2026.