SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 27 Starlink satellites, lands on ship at sea (video)

SpaceX launched 27 more of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit today (Sept.

6).

The spacecraft rode to low Earth orbit (LEO) atop a Falcon 9 rocket, which lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base at 10:26 a.m.

EDT (1426 GMT; 7:26 a.m. local California time).

The Falcon 9 rose into blue morning skies — something of a rarity for California's central coast, which is often cloaked in fog.

The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth as planned 8.5 minutes later, landing in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You." A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 27 Starlink satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sept.

6, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX) It was the 19th flight for this particular booster, which is designated B1088.

This marks about the halfway point to the SpaceX record of 37 flights, which was set by B1067 during a Starlink launch on Aug.

25.

The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, carried the 27 Starlink satellites to LEO, deploying them on schedule 62 minutes after launch.

SpaceX's sooty Falcon 9 rocket first stage on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean after a successful launch and landing on Sept.

6, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX) Previous Booster 1088 launches NROL-126 | Transporter-12 | SPHEREx | NROL-57 | 13 Starlink missions Today's launch was the 103rd Falcon 9 mission of 2026.

Eighty of those flights have been dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation, by far the largest satellite network ever assembled.

It currently consists of more than 11,000 active spacecraft, according to astronomer and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.