Overview
- SpaceX plans to lift off a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:59 p.m. PDT on Friday, July 31 to deploy 24 Starlink internet satellites into low Earth orbit.
- The mission will fly first stage B1081 on its 26th flight and aims to recover the booster on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You roughly eight minutes after liftoff.
- The launch was postponed from an original July 27 date and SpaceX has not publicly explained the sequence of delays.
- SpaceX will stream the launch on its website and the X TV app beginning minutes before liftoff, and local outlets note the nighttime ascent may be visible from parts of Arizona with suggested viewing locations.
- The flight is one more in SpaceX’s high‑cadence 2026 campaign that has launched roughly 90 Falcon rockets this year and added to a Starlink constellation that now exceeds 10,800 satellites.