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

The records keep rolling in for SpaceX.

One of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base today (Oct. 25) at 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 GMT; 7:20 a.m. local time), carrying 28 Starlink internet satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO).

It was the 135th orbital launch of the year for SpaceX, breaking a mark the company set in 2024.

All of SpaceX’s orbital flights this year have been performed by Falcon 9s, which have now launched as many missions in the past 11 months as NASA’s space shuttle flew in its 30-year history.

SpaceX has also launched five suborbital test flights of its Starship megarocket so far this year. In 2024, the company launched 132 Falcon 9 missions, two flights of the more powerful Falcon Heavy, and four Starship suborbital tests.

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

The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying the 28 Starlink satellites toward LEO, where they will be deployed about an hour after liftoff.

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

And the Oct. 23 launch of the Spainsat NG-2 satellite was the 139th overall liftoff of the year for SpaceX, also a new record.