SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 24 Starlink satellites from California (video)

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the two dozen new relay spacecraft (Group 17-46) lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base at p. m. EDT (0258 GMT on July 2 or p. m. About an hour later, SpaceX confirmed the satellites were successfully deployed in low Earth orbit. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. ()Previous Booster B1100 launches NROL-105 | 5 Starlink missions The Falcon 9's first stage (Booster 1100) completed its seventh flight to space and back, landing on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" positioned in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX's Starlink megaconstellation now totals more than 10,700 active satellites, according to tracker Jonathan McDowell. The service supports connectively around the globe, as well as in-flight and direct-to-cell services. Wednesday's launch was SpaceX's 79th Falcon 9 liftoff of the year. collectSPACE. com Editor, Space. com Contributor Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE. com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space. com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published 2018. In 2009, he was inducted into the U. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.