SpaceX launches five hundredth Starlink satellite tv for pc in 2026 throughout Wednesday Falcon 9 flight – Spaceflight Now

Update Feb. 25 10:15 a.m. EST (1515 UTC): SpaceX confirms landing of the booster.

SpaceX launched its five hundredth Starlink satellite tv for pc of the yr throughout a flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base Wednesday morning.

The Starlink 17-26 mission added 25 broadband satellites to the rising constellation that’s nearing 10,000 spacecraft in low Earth orbit. SpaceX confirmed a profitable payload deployment an hour after liftoff. With this launch, SpaceX has flown 512 Starlink satellites to orbit in 2026.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East occurred at 6:17:49 a.m. PST (9:17:49 a.m. EST / 1417:49 UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a southerly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad.



SpaceX launched the Starlink 17-26 mission utilizing the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail quantity 1093. This was its eleventh flight following two missions for the Space Development Agency and eight earlier batches of Starlink satellites.

Just a little greater than eight minutes after liftoff, B1093 landed on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned within the Pacific Ocean. This was the one hundred and eightieth touchdown on this vessel and the 577th booster touchdown for SpaceX.