Overview
- On Tuesday, Aug. 11 a Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral carrying 29 Starlink satellites and its first stage, booster B1085, made a successful drone‑ship landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas on its 18th flight.
- Hours later SpaceX launched 24 more Starlink craft from Vandenberg Space Force Base and the mission’s first stage, booster B1103, landed on the Pacific droneship Of Course I Still Love You.
- The two flights pushed SpaceX’s Falcon 9 count to the mid‑90s for 2026 and increased the year’s Starlink missions into the 70s, reflecting the company’s sustained high launch cadence.
- Booster reuse remains central to the operations with B1085 logged as a veteran 18‑flight vehicle and B1103 on its fifth flight, a practice that lowers costs and speeds turnaround between missions.
- Public viewing depends on launch time, trajectory and weather so SpaceX and local outlets urged spectators to watch the company’s live webcast about 10 minutes before liftoff or check regional launch advisories for visibility updates.