Two days, two coasts, two more SpaceX Starlink batches launched

montage of two photos showing white and black rockets launching to blue skies — Two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets carrying Starlink satellites were launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California (at left) and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 13 and 14, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX launched two more sets of Starlink satellites on back-to-back, coast-to-coast flights on Friday and Saturday.

First up, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 13. The 25 satellites (Group 17-31) were released into low Earth orbit about an hour after the 10:57 a.m. EDT (1457 GMT or 7:57 a.m. PDT local time) liftoff.

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Previous Booster 1071 missions

Previous Booster 1095 missions

Starlink Group 12-15 | Starlink Group 10-56 | Starlink Group 10-52 | Starlink Group 6-86 | Starlink Group 6-101

Both missions' first stage boosters returned to Earth as planned, landing on ocean-based droneships. On Friday, Booster 1071 (B1071) touched down on "Of Course I Still Love You" stationed in the Pacific off the coast of California. On Saturday, Booster 1095 (B1095) landed on "Just Read the Instructions" in the Atlantic Ocean.

The launches brought the total number of active Starlink satellites to 9,985, according to satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.

Saturday's launch marked SpaceX's 625th completed mission and 585th landing, according to the company's website. It was SpaceX's 32nd flight in 2026.

Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018.

In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.