SpaceX hit another quiet milestone this morning, launching booster B1100 on its sixth flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base and recovering it cleanly on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific. The mission, Starlink Group 17-37, added 24 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites to low Earth orbit — and marked SpaceX's 60th Falcon 9 launch of 2026.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E occurred at 14:50:34 UTC (7:50 a.m. PDT). NASASpaceflight confirmed the launch and tracked the booster through landing, noting the first stage descended through cloud cover before touching down — a routine that has become almost unremarkable at this pace.
B1100 last flew on April 23, 2026, making this its sixth flight in just over a month. At 60 launches through late May, SpaceX is on pace to comfortably surpass last year's total. For Starlink subscribers, each successful deployment tightens coverage and capacity — particularly relevant as the V2 Mini Optimized generation continues to expand throughput across the constellation. For more on SpaceX's ongoing launch cadence, see our SpaceX coverage.
Sarah focuses on Tesla Energy, SpaceX missions, and the broader Musk AI portfolio. Former data analyst in clean energy. Based in San Francisco.
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