SpaceX Flies Its 700th Falcon 9 as Launch Pace Winds Down for Starship
SpaceX closed out October with the 700th Falcon 9 launch, sending 27 Starlink satellites up from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday night, Oct. 30. It was the company's 11th and final orbital launch of the month.
By the Tesla News Wire staff · Edited by Seamus McKenna · · 2 min read
SpaceX's Starlink 15-18 mission was the 700th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket. It lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT on Friday, Oct. 30, carrying 27 Starlink satellites, Spaceflight Now reported.
The flight
Booster B1093 flew for the 18th time. Its earlier flights included Transporter-16, two Space Development Agency missions and 14 Starlink batches.
It landed about 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific.
That was the 231st landing on that droneship and the 675th Falcon booster landing overall.
A slowing Falcon program
Spaceflight Now says the Starlink 15-16 launch on Oct. 27 was the first time since July 2025 that SpaceX fell below 150 orbital launches in a 365-day window. The peak was 171 in December 2025. SpaceX stopped flying Starlink missions from Florida on Falcon 9 in August as it shifts toward Starship.
Space.com says it was the 118th Falcon 9 launch of 2026.
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