Falcon 9 rocket sets new reuse record on SpaceX's 2nd Starlink launch of the day

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The second of two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets launched on Saturday (Feb. 21) completed a record-breaking 33rd re-flight.

a split-screen view of a rocket launch and a first stage landing, both at night
Two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, each carrying Starlink satellites, launched from California (at left) and Florida on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. The second booster set a new reuse record (at left). (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX launched two more batches of Starlink satellites on Saturday (Feb. 21), and in the process set a new rocket reuse record.

First up at 4:04 a.m. EST (0904 GMT or 1:04 a.m. PST local time), a Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Twenty-five (25) Starlink satellites (Group 17-25) were lofted part of the way into space by a booster (B1063) making its 31st flight.

Previous Booster 1063 missions

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich | DART | Transporter-7 | Iridium OneWeb | SDA-0B | NROL-113 | NROL-167 | NROL-149 | NAOS | 20 Starlink missions

Previous Booster 1067 missions

CRS-22 | Crew-3 | Turksat 5B | Crew-4 | CRS-25 | Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G | O3B mPOWER | PSN SATRIA | Telkomsat Marah Putih 2 | Galileo L13 | Koreasat-6A | 20 Starlink missions

The California flight included a first stage landing on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" positioned in the Pacific Ocean. The first stage launched from Florida touched down on "A Shortfall of Gravitas" in the Atlantic Ocean.

The 53 new Starlink satellites added to SpaceX's megaconstellation of more than 9700 active broadband internet relay units. The dual missions marked the 21st and 22nd Falcon 9 launches of the year.

Robert Z. Pearlman
Robert Z. Pearlman
collectSPACE.com Editor, Space.com Contributor

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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