Vandenberg Space Force Base – A Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on California’s central coast today (Oct. 3), lifting off at 10:06 a.m. EDT (1406 GMT; 7:06 a.m. local California time) on SpaceX’s 125th Falcon 9 mission of the year.

The vehicle carried 28 Starlink satellites, which its upper stage deployed into low Earth orbit about an hour after launch, according to a SpaceX social media post.

The Falcon 9’s first stage returned a little over eight minutes after liftoff, touching down on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.

That booster, B1097, completed its second launch and landing; its previous flight was also a Starlink mission.

More than 70% of Falcon 9 launches in 2025 have been dedicated to building out Starlink, the largest satellite constellation ever assembled.

There are more than 8,500 active Starlink spacecraft orbiting Earth. The European Space Agency estimates roughly 12,500 operational satellites of any kind in orbit — meaning about two out of every three functioning spacecraft are Starlinks, and that proportion is only going to climb as more Starlinks go up.

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