VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. SpaceX closed out October with a milestone that no other launch provider in history has reached: the 700th launch of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.
Lifting off on the eve of Halloween at 9:04 p.m. PDT on Friday, October 30, 2026 (12:04 a.m. EDT, 04:04 UTC on October 31), a Falcon 9 carrying 27 Starlink broadband satellites tore through the night sky above Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at California's Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Designated internally as Starlink 15-18, the mission capped a rapid monthly launch cadence while pushing SpaceX's active low Earth orbit internet mega-constellation further past 11,000 satellites, according to Space.com's launch coverage.
Starlink 15-18 Mission Metrics ├── Core Program Milestone: 700th Falcon 9 launch to date ├── Liftoff Timing: 9:04 p.m. PDT Oct 30 | 12:04 a.m. EDT / 04:04 UTC Oct 31 ├── Launch Complex: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA ├── Payload: 27 Starlink V2 Mini optimized internet satellites ├── Booster Tail Number: Falcon 9 first stage B1093 (18th re-flight) └── Recovery Vessel: Droneship Of Course I Still Love You (Pacific Ocean)
Booster B1093 | 18 Flights and Counting
The mission utilized first-stage booster B1093, marking its 18th successful flight and recovery.
Having previously supported two missions for the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA), the Transporter-16 rideshare, and 14 previous Starlink flights, the booster once again executed a smooth precision touchdown.
Falcon 9 Flight and Recovery Execution Pipeline [Liftoff at SLC-4E] ➔ [Stage 1 Separates at T+2:30] ➔ [Droneship Landing at T+8:30] ➔ [Payload Deploy at T+62 Min]
Approximately 8.5 minutes after ignition, B1093 settled onto the deck of the autonomous droneship Of Course I Still Love You, stationed several hundred miles downrange in the Pacific Ocean.
The touchdown marked the 231st recovery for Of Course I Still Love You and brought SpaceX's total booster recovery count to 675 landings across both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy variants, per Spaceflight Now's live coverage.
Meanwhile, the rocket's single-engine upper stage continued into orbit, successfully releasing all 27 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit approximately 62 minutes after liftoff.
2026 Launch Cadence | 118 Falcon 9 Missions and Counting
The Halloween deployment served as the 118th Falcon 9 launch of 2026, underscoring an unprecedented reusability cadence. More than 70 percent of SpaceX's orbital missions throughout the year have been dedicated to scaling the Starlink network, establishing global direct-to-cell connectivity and enterprise satellite coverage.
SpaceX 2026 Flight Cadence Summary ├── Total Falcon 9 Launches (2026 YTD): 118 missions ├── Falcon Heavy Operational Missions: 3 launches ├── Starship Test Flight Iterations: 3 launches (next test expected Nov 2026) └── Cumulative Constellation Fleet: Over 11,000 active Starlink satellites
With 700 Falcon 9 missions completed since the architecture's debut in 2010, SpaceX maintains a virtual monopoly on commercial orbital launches, a lead documented in detail by New Space Economy's telemetry analysis.
As the company prepares for its next high-profile Starship test flight out of Starbase, Texas, in November, the West Coast Falcon 9 team at Vandenberg continues to prove why the medium-lift rocket remains the unassailable workhorse of modern spaceflight.
| Operational Parameter | Starlink 15-18 Baseline Data |
|---|---|
| Program Milestone | 700th Falcon 9 launch to date |
| Launch Facility | SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA |
| Payload | 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit |
| First Stage Recovery | Droneship landing, 18th flight of B1093 |
| 2026 Cadence | 118th Falcon 9 mission of the year |
The milestone lands in a busy month for the Falcon 9 fleet. Earlier in October, a Falcon 9 launched NASA's CRS-35 resupply mission to the ISS, producing a rare space jellyfish display over the East Coast, and booster B1067 flew a record 36th mission to deliver a Starlink 10-42 batch. The constellation's expanding footprint also continues to draw policy scrutiny, as seen in the recent Ukraine Starlink restrictions coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Seven hundred launches is a number that reframes what routine means in spaceflight. The rocket that flew it was on its eighteenth trip, the ship that caught it has now caught 231, and the satellites it carried joined a fleet of more than 11,000. The next milestone, a Starship test flight from Starbase in November, will show whether SpaceX's next-generation vehicle can begin closing the gap its workhorse opened.