Falcon 9 Cadence: 116th Flight of 2026 Marks Shift to Starship

SpaceX launched 27 Starlink broadband satellites from the California coast on Oct. 23.

The mission, identified as Starlink Group 15-15, lifted off from Pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:48 p.m. EDT. The Falcon 9 rocket carried the spacecraft inside a two-piece payload fairing. This flight represented the 116th Falcon 9 launch of the year.

The first stage booster, designated B1063, separated from the upper stage approximately 2.5 minutes after liftoff. The fairing was jettisoned just before the three-minute mark. The booster then reoriented for reentry. After the mission clock passed eight minutes, B1063 executed a landing burn and touched down on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You. This marked the 36th launch and landing for the booster, which previously carried NASA’s DART asteroid mission in November 2021.

The upper stage completed its initial burn shortly after the booster landed. It coasted for about 45 minutes before a final orbital insertion burn. Deployment of the 27 satellites was scheduled to begin 62 minutes after liftoff. The constellation now includes more than 11,000 active spacecraft.

Launch frequency has decreased as SpaceX shifts focus to the Starship rocket. Starship is designed for full reusability and features a payload bay large enough for the upgraded Version 3 Starlink satellites, which are too big for the Falcon 9. Once operational, SpaceX plans to phase out the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy variants almost entirely.

The 100th Falcon 9 launch of 2026, which carried the Starlink 10-49 group from Cape Canaveral, was the final Starlink mission from Florida’s Space Coast this year. The Oct. 23 launch came 11 days after the previous Starlink mission. That prior flight was the first in more than three weeks. At their peak, these missions flew every two to three days.

The 116th flight of 2026 included roughly three-quarters of the year's launches dedicated to Starlink. The reduced cadence suggests 2025 remains the busiest year in Falcon 9 history, with 165 launches. At the current rate, the rocket is expected to complete just under 150 missions by the end of 2026.