SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday morning, deploying 24 Starlink satellites as part of its ongoing expansion of the Starlink broadband constellation, which now exceeds 10,500 satellites in orbit. The mission, known as Starlink 17-44, lifted off at 8:05 a.m. PDT and followed a south-southwest trajectory. The satellites were added to SpaceX’s low Earth orbit internet network designed to provide global broadband coverage. A key highlight of the launch was the reuse of the Falcon 9 first-stage booster B1071, which completed its 34th flight—including previous missions for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, NASA, South Korea’s CAS500-2, Germany’s SARah-1, and multiple Starlink and rideshare missions. After stage separation, the booster successfully landed on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Pacific Ocean. This marked SpaceX’s 622nd total booster landing and the 202nd landing on that specific drone ship, underscoring the company’s high rate of rocket reusability. The launch also came just ahead of increased market attention as SpaceX approaches a milestone related to public stock availability on Nasdaq.