Overview
- A Falcon 9 lifted from Vandenberg Space Force Base and delivered 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit, with the flight and booster recovery completed in the early hours of Wednesday, Aug. 19.
- SpaceX counted the mission as its 100th launch of 2026 and tracking data reported the Starlink constellation at roughly 11,000 satellites after the deployment.
- The booster, B1097, flew for the twelfth time and made a successful landing on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean, illustrating the company’s routine reuse and recovery model.
- Operations followed established public practices with a four-hour FAA launch window, a live SpaceX webcast starting about ten minutes before liftoff, and local advisories warning residents about launch noise and possible sonic booms.
- The flight fits a rapid scale-up since 2020 that has driven thousands of collision-avoidance maneuvers, prompted SpaceX to lower some satellites’ orbits, and led the company to seek regulatory approval for much larger future constellations.