SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites to orbit from California (video)

SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink satellites from California's central coast on Wednesday night (June 24).

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Wednesday at 11:30 p.m. EDT (8:30 p.m. local time; 0330 GMT on June 25), carrying 24 of the broadband spacecraft to low Earth orbit (LEO).

The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after launch as planned, touching down in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You."

a black and white rocket launches into a dark night sky — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 24 Starlink satellites to orbit from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 24, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX)

According to a company mission description, it was the 25th flight for this particular booster, which is known as B1081.

The rocket's upper stage, meanwhile, continued hauling the 24 satellites to LEO. The spacecraft were deployed there on schedule, just under 62 minutes into flight, according to SpaceX.

Previous Booster 1081 missions

Wednesday's launch was the 74th Falcon 9 liftoff of the year, and the 59th of 2026 devoted to building out the Starlink megaconstellation. Starlink is by far the biggest satellite network ever assembled; it currently consists of nearly 10,700 active units, and the number goes up all the time.

SpaceX has launched two non-Falcon 9 missions this year as well. On April 29, a Falcon Heavy lofted the Viasat-3 F3 telecom satellite. And the company's Starship megarocket launched on its 12th-ever test flight on May 22.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 2:40 a.m. ET on June 25 with news of successful launch, rocket landing and satellite deployment.

Michael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.