SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on its record 135th orbital mission of the year

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The data for SpaceX continues to pour in.

One from the company Falcon 9 rockets launched from California Vandenberg Space Force Base today (October 25) at 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 GMT; 7:20 a.m. local time), with 28 Starlink internet satellites direction low Earth orbit (LEO).

It was the 135th orbital launch of the year SpaceXbreaking a milestone the company set in 2024.

All of SpaceX’s spaceflights this year have been carried out by Falcon 9s, which have launched as many missions in the past eleven months as NASA’s spaceship flew in its 30-year history.

SpaceX has also launched five suborbital test flights Starship mega rocket so far this year. In 2024, the company launched 132 Falcon 9 missions, two flights of its most powerful Falcon heavyand four Starship suborbital tests.

Previous Booster 1081 missions

Crew-7 | CRS-29 | PACE | Transporter-10 | EarthCARE | NROL-186 | Transporter-13 | TRACERS | NROL-48 | 9 Starlink missions

During today’s flight, the Falcon 9 returned to Earth as planned, landing in the Pacific Ocean on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” about 8.5 minutes after takeoff. It was the 19th launch and touchdown for this particular booster, named 1081.

The Falcon 9 upper stage, meanwhile, continued to carry the 28 Starlink satellites to LEO, where they will be deployed about an hour after launch.

SpaceX has achieved a number of important milestones in the past week. For example, a recent mission launched the 10,000th Starlink satellite in orbitand another was the record-breaking 31st flight of the Falcon 9 booster known as 1067.

And the October 23 launch of the Spainsat NG-2 satellite was the 139th general launch of the year also a new record for SpaceX.