SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Starlink satellites from Vandenberg in California

a white rocket with a black interstage lifts off from its oceanside launch pad into a clear blue sky

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 Starlink satellites launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX launched a new batch of its Starlink satellites today (Dec. 7).

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the 29 internet broadband relays lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:58 a.m. EST (1758 GMT or 9:58 a.m. PST local time) on Sunday.

a rocket's first stage stands on its four deployed landing legs after touching down on a droneship positioned in the ocean — The first stage from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on its four deployable landing legs after making a propulsive touchdown the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" positioned in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Previous Booster 1088 missions

NROL-126 | Transporter-12 | SPHEREx | NROL-57 | 6 Starlink missions

To plan, the Falcon 9's first stage (B1088) completed its 12th flight, making a propulsive landing on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX's Starlink constellation, which now totals more than 9,100 operational satellites, provides internet access to areas around the world where other means of connecting are either sparse non existent. The service also supports wifi on commercial airliners and cell-to-satellite connections for mobile providers.

Sunday's launch from Vandenberg was SpaceX's 115th Starlink launch and 157th Falcon 9 flight of the year,

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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