SpaceX launched 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, a day after a rare engine ignition abort scrubbed the first attempt. Liftoff occurred at 7:49 a.m. PDT from Space Launch Complex 4 East. All nine Merlin 1D engines shut down during the previous day's countdown sequence, halting that launch attempt in seconds. The successful flight added another 24 satellites to SpaceX's constellation of more than 10,800 active Starlink spacecraft in low Earth orbit.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster B1082 completed its 23rd flight, having previously supported missions including NROL-145, USSF-62, and OneWeb Launch 20. Satellite deployment occurred just over an hour after liftoff to a 97-degree inclination orbit. The booster landed on the droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You' eight minutes after launch, marking the 212th landing on that vessel and the 640th booster landing overall for SpaceX.
This was SpaceX's 85th Falcon 9 launch of the year, with 67 missions dedicated to building out the Starlink constellation. The company has maintained a steady cadence of Starlink deployment flights throughout 2024. The mission also represented continued refinement of the V2 Mini satellite variant, which carries the company's next-generation broadband capabilities.
The back-to-back launch attempts, with the first ending in a rare engine shutdown, underscored both the unpredictability of spaceflight operations and SpaceX's ability to diagnose issues and return to flight quickly. The successful deployment kept pace with SpaceX's ongoing effort to saturate orbital slots for its internet service.
- Vehicle: Falcon 9 Block 5
- Payload: Starlink V2 Mini, 24 satellites
- Site: Vandenberg Space Force Base SLC-4E
- Orbit: 97-degree inclination LEO
- Window: 2026-07-22T14:49:00Z
- Customer: SpaceX
- Outcome: success