Falcon 9 lifts 27 Starlink craft from California coast
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Oct. 12, 2026, carrying the Starlink 15-25 batch. The first-stage booster completed its 20th mission and landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. About an hour after liftoff, the rocket was expected to release 27 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into a roughly 266-kilometer orbit.
The Starlink 15-25 payload left Space Launch Complex 4 East at 5:28 p.m. local time, flying southward toward a 70-degree-inclination orbit. Booster B1088 completed its 20th flight and touched down on the drone ship about eight and a half minutes later. Its earlier missions included NROL-126, Transporter-12, SPHEREx, NROL-57, USSF-366, and fourteen Starlink flights.
Roughly an hour after launch, the 27 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized spacecraft were scheduled for release around 266 kilometers above Earth. The mission continued SpaceX's use of reusable first stages and California-based Starlink deployment operations.
Expanded satellite internet access could reach more users in remote or underserved areas, while the growing number of low-Earth-orbit craft may increase challenges for astronomers, space-traffic monitoring, and orbital debris management. Reusable boosters like B1088 may also help lower launch costs and support more frequent missions, though the broader effects on daily life will depend on how networks, regulations, and competing services evolve.