Starlink launches may have become commonplace, but this one was definitely worth staying up for.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with 29 Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday (Aug. 25), at 5:33 a.m. EDT (0933 GMT).
It was the 100th Falcon 9 flight of 2026 and the record-breaking 37th mission for this rocket’s first stage, a booster designated B1067.
The Falcon 9 is by far the busiest rocket in operation today. Last year, it flew 165 missions — more than all of the world’s other orbital rockets combined. And all 165 of those flights were fully successful.
Extensive first-stage reuse is the Falcon 9’s secret sauce, making it cheaper and more efficient to fly than its competitors. Those competitors are racing to catch up, however, and some are making strides. In the past six weeks, for example, two different Chinese rockets aced landings during orbital missions.
But neither one of those newcomers has made it back to the pad for a second flight. SpaceX, meanwhile, has six Falcon 9 boosters with at least 30 flights under their belts, led by B1067’s 36. (The others are B1077 and B1078 with 30, B1069 with 32, B1063 with 34 and B1071 with 35).
And SpaceX plans to take reuse to even higher levels. The company’s next-gen megarocket, Starship, is designed to be completely and rapidly reusable, with each vehicle capable of flying multiple times per day, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. (The Falcon 9 and its cousin the Falcon Heavy are only partially reusable; they have expendable upper stages.)
Previous Booster B1067 launches
After launch, B1067 returned to Earth for recovery and yet more reuse. About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the booster landed on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
The rocket’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued on to deliver its 29 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, deploying them there 61.5 minutes after launch.
Tuesday’s liftoff was the 77th of 2026 devoted to building out Starlink, by far the largest satellite constellation ever assembled. It currently consists of more than 11,000 operational spacecraft, and that number is growing all the time.
The Falcon 9 isn’t the only SpaceX rocket to have flown this year. The company has also launched one Falcon Heavy mission and two suborbital Starship test flights. Starship will try to go orbital for the first time on its next liftoff, which is expected in early to mid-September.