SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches 27 Starlink Satellites: California's Record-Breaking 72nd Launch of 2026
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 12:26 a.m. Pacific time on Oct. 27 from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, delivering 27 Starlink internet satellites to low-Earth orbit. The mission is known as Starlink 15-16.
According to the Ventura County Star, it was California's 72nd rocket launch of 2026, surpassing the total of 71 launches for all of 2025 and setting a new state annual record with more than two months left in the year. A launch just days earlier had tied the previous mark.
After liftoff, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster returned and landed on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean; the booster was flying for the 26th time. The two-stage, 230-foot Falcon 9 is the world's most active rocket. (Sources: Ventura County Star, SpaceX)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：猎鹰9号火箭自范登堡太空军基地4号发射综合体夜间升空（资料图）。美国太空军照片，公共领域，来源：Wikimedia Commons / Photo: A Falcon 9 rocket launches from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base (file photo). U.S. Space Force photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
