Double delivery: SpaceX sends Starlink satellites into orbit on launches from California and Florida

SpaceX added a 53 satellites to its Starlink megaconstellation over the course of two launches in as many days.

Side-by-side photos of white and black rockets lifting off into the dark of night and their engine plumes lighting the surrounding area of their launch pads — SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets carrying Starlink satellites launched on Feb. 14 and Feb. 16, 2026 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, respectively. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX confirmed a successful deploy for both missions about an hour after their respective liftoffs.

Previous Booster 1081 missions

The first stages from both Falcon 9 rockets landed safely on drone ships positioned in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The touchdown on "Of Course I Still Love You" on Saturday marked the completion of Booster 1081's 22nd flight. Booster 1090, which landed on "A Shortfall of Gravitas," finished its 10th reuse.

Previous Booster 1090 missions

The Starlink service provides broadband internet service to underserved areas around the world. The network, which now includes more than 9,600 active units, also enables cell-to-satellite and in-flight wifi on select providers.

Monday's launch was SpaceX's 19th Falcon 9 flight of the year and 602nd in history.

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.

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