Follow-Up: Falcon 9 Completes Its 700th Launch: 27 Starlink Satellites Reach Orbit as Booster Flies for the 18th Time
At Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at 9:04 p.m. local time on October 30, carrying 27 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. According to Spaceflight Now, it was the 700th launch of the Falcon 9 since the rocket's debut in June 2010.
The mission, designated Starlink 15-18, carried 27 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites. The first-stage booster, tail number B1093, was flying for the 18th time, after missions including Transporter-16, two flights for the Space Development Agency and 14 Starlink batches. About eight and a half minutes after liftoff, B1093 landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
It was SpaceX's 11th and final orbital launch of October. The Starlink 15-18 batch joins a high-inclination shell serving high-latitude regions including Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Scandinavia; with this batch, the Starlink constellation counts more than 11,190 satellites in orbit.
GSM previously reported the launch window and mission profile; this follow-up records the confirmed outcome.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：猎鹰9号自加州范登堡太空军基地发射升空、一级助推器返回的长曝光资料照片。美国空军 Tech. Sgt. Jim Araos 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / File photo: Long-exposure image of a Falcon 9 launch and first-stage return at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jim Araos, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-30SpaceX Falcon 9 to Launch 27 Starlink Satellites from Vandenberg on Oct. 30, Window Opens 8:48 p.m. PT
- 2026-11-01Follow-Up: Falcon 9 Completes Its 700th Launch: 27 Starlink Satellites Reach Orbit as Booster Flies for the 18th TimeThis story
