SpaceX Launches Flight-Proven Rocket for 600th Time, Deploying Starlink Satellites

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SpaceX reached a milestone with its latest Starlink launch, sending the satellites into orbit on its 600th flight of a flight-proven booster.

The sexacentennial launch came on the second of two Falcon 9 missions that lifted off less than eight hours apart overnight from Monday to Tuesday (July 13 to July 14). The first flight, with Starlink batch 15-14 , launched at 9:28 p.m. EDT (0128 GMT or 6:28 p.m. PDT local time) from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The second flight, with Starlink group 10-45 , followed at 5:10 a.m. EDT (0910 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on July 13, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX) Both launches successfully deployed their payloads — 27 and 29 Starlink satellites, respectively — into their intended orbits, as confirmed by SpaceX .

Previous Booster B0193 missions

SDA-T1TL-B | SDA-T1TL-C | Transporter-16 | 11 Starlink missions

Previous Booster B1080 missions

Ax-2 | Euclid | Ax-3 | CRS-30 | SES ASTRA 1P | NG-21 | 21 Starlink missions

Both flights also successfully recovered their Falcon 9 first stage boosters. B1093, launched from Florida, completed its 15th flight. B1080, launched from California, achieved its 28th mission. The record for a single Falcon 9 first stage's re-flight stands at 36 launches .

The addition of 56 more Starlink satellites to SpaceX's megaconstellation brought the total active number of broadband internet relay units to 10,839, according to tracker Jonathan McDowell .

In addition to Tuesday's launch being the 600th launch of a flight-proven Falcon 9 stage, SpaceX now stands at 83 Falcon 9 missions this year to date.