SpaceX launches 1,000th Starlink satellite of 2026 on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

SpaceX launched its 1,000th Starlink satellite so far in 2026 with an early morning Falcon 9 rocket launch Tuesday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Starlink 10-24 mission will send 29 broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit. This was SpaceX’s 37th dedicated Starlink mission of the year and with a successful payload deployment about an hour after liftoff, the company has sent 1,002 Starlink satellites to orbit this year alone.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 5:33:10 a.m. EDT (0933:10 UTC). The rocket flew on a north-easterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.

SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1080. This was its 26th flight following missions, like Axiom Mission 2, Axiom Mission 3, and CRS-30.

Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1080 landed on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 157th booster landing on this vessel and the 598th booster landing to date.