27 Satellites Launch After 11-Day Pause

An eleven day gap separated the latest Starlink launch from the previous one. SpaceX filled that silence on Oct. 23 by sending 27 new satellites into orbit from the California coast.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:48 p.m. EDT. The vehicle carried the 27 spacecraft of Starlink Group 15-15 in its payload fairing. The first stage booster, identified as B1063, cut its engines about 2.5 minutes after liftoff and separated from the upper stage. It later landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You, marking its 36th landing.

The upper stage performed a second burn roughly 45 minutes after the first to place the satellites into low Earth orbit. Deployment of the satellites began 62 minutes after liftoff. This mission marks the 116th Falcon 9 flight for SpaceX in 2026. About three quarters of this year's launches have dedicated the rocket to the Starlink constellation.

The total number of active Starlink spacecraft has now passed 11,000. However, the frequency of these launches has decreased as the company shifts resources toward its Starship vehicle. Starship is built for full reusability and carries the larger Version 3 satellites that do not fit inside the Falcon 9 fairing. SpaceX plans to phase out the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy almost entirely once Starship begins operational flights.

The slowdown in Falcon 9 activity is already evident in the 2026 schedule. The 100th launch of the year, a Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral, was the final flight of its kind from Florida's Space Coast. The previous West Coast launch occurred 11 days before Oct. 23. That flight itself followed a pause of more than three weeks. At the start of the year, Starlink missions flew every two to three days.

SpaceX completed 165 Falcon 9 launches in 2025, which remains the highest number for the rocket in a single year. Current projections indicate the company will complete just under 150 missions by the end of 2026. This trend suggests the 2025 total will stand as the peak for the workhorse rocket.