500 Falcon missions! SpaceX sends 26 Starlink satellites to orbit on landmark launch

SpaceX just notched another big launch milestone.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 26 of the company's Starlink internet satellites lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday (June 12) at 9:54 p.m. EDT (6:54 p.m. PDT local time, or 0154 GMT on June 13).

The satellites were deployed in low Earth orbit (LEO) about an hour later as planned, the company announced via X. And, with that success, SpaceX's Falcon rocket family hit a very significant round number.

"Falcon completes its 500th overall mission! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team for making the impossible possible on the road to rapidly reusable rockets!" SpaceX said in another X post on Thursday night.

And speaking of reusability: The Falcon 9's first stage, serial B1081, came back to Earth on Thursday night, touching down on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You," which was stationed off the coast of Southern California. It was the 15th launch and landing for the booster, according to SpaceX's web page for the 15-6 mission.

SpaceX's record for reusing a Falcon 9 first stage stands at 28 launches.

The 26 newly launched spacecraft will soon join more than 7,600 active satellites in the Starlink megaconstellation, the largest satellite network ever assembled.

SpaceX, led by billionaire Elon Musk, bills the Starlink service as "high-speed internet around the world" and its satellite megaconstellation does now reach around the planet. A growing number of the spacecraft support direct-to-cell capabilities, enabling texting and internet service from certain smart phones and service providers.

With Thursday's launch in the books, SpaceX has now launched 72 Falcon 9 missions in 2025, of which 54 have been in support of the Starlink service.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. ET on June 13 with the news that this was the 500th completed Falcon mission overall for SpaceX.