SpaceX launched its 50th mission of the year Sunday morning from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, sending a Falcon 9 rocket with 25 Starlink broadband satellites into orbit. The rocket lifted off at 10:37 a.m. EDT on April 26, then landed its first stage in the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes later on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You.
The booster, designated 1088, completed its 15th launch and landing on the mission, a sign of how routine SpaceX has made reuse on Falcon 9. The satellites were deployed a little over 61 minutes after liftoff.
The flight mattered because it pushed SpaceX to a round number that no other U.S. launch provider is matching this year. All 50 of the company’s launches in 2026 have used Falcon 9 rockets, and 42 of those missions have carried Starlink spacecraft. The company’s largest constellation now includes nearly 10,300 active satellites, a scale that has turned each new batch into both a business milestone and a piece of the company’s wider launch cadence.
Vandenberg’s role in that cadence has been visible for weeks. SpaceX has used the California base for repeated Starlink missions, including a recent launch schedule that pointed to another flight from the West Coast. The company’s pace also matters because Falcon Heavy and Starship had not flown in 2026 at the time of Sunday’s mission, even as SpaceX was eyeing Wednesday morning, April 29, for a Falcon Heavy launch carrying the ViaSat-3 F3 communications satellite after weather delayed the April 27 attempt.
That leaves the company chasing two milestones at once: keeping Falcon 9 moving at a record clip while preparing to widen the menu of rockets it puts to work. SpaceX set its company record with 165 orbital missions last year, and this year’s run is already tracking close enough to show the same pattern — Starlink first, Falcon 9 always, and the next test likely just days away. The question for the rest of the week is whether the launch calendar can finally give Falcon Heavy a turn before attention shifts to what could be the 12th suborbital trial of Starship next month.