SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 27 Starlink satellites from California, booster lands on drone ship
A Falcon 9 first stage completed its 19th flight on September 6, deploying another batch of internet satellites to low Earth orbit.
What happened
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on September 6 at 10:26 a.m. EDT, carrying 27 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. The first stage booster (B1088) returned to Earth 8.5 minutes after launch and landed on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific Ocean. The upper stage deployed the 27 satellites on schedule 62 minutes after launch. This was the 19th flight for booster B1088, approaching the SpaceX reuse record of 37 flights set by booster B1067 in August.
Context
Today's mission was the 103rd Falcon 9 flight in 2026, with 80 dedicated to building Starlink. The constellation now consists of more than 11,000 active satellites, the largest ever assembled. SpaceX currently launches all Starlink missions from Vandenberg after pausing Florida operations pending Starship readiness. The company plans to deploy next-generation Starlink V3 satellites—larger and more capable than current V2 models—with Starship, ultimately aiming to assemble a network of approximately 100,000 V3 satellites in low Earth orbit.