SpaceX Celebrates 450th Successful Booster Landing with Latest Starlink Launch

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, California — SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 first stage booster on a droneship Friday afternoon while launching a batch of 27 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. This mission marked the company’s 450th successful booster landing.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 3:32 p.m. PDT (6:32 p.m. EDT, 2232 UTC) on May 23, 2025. This current mission, named Starlink 11-16, brings the total number of Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX to 8,700, with over 7,500 remaining operational, according to orbital expert Jonathan McDowell.

The first stage booster, tail number B1075, made its 18th flight, having previously supported various missions including 14 batches of Starlink satellites. Approximately eight minutes post-launch, B1075 successfully landed on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ The landing was notable as it also signified a total of 131 booster landings for this particular droneship and 361 drone ship landings overall.

SpaceX continues to evolve its launch capabilities. On Tuesday night, the company rolled a Falcon Heavy rocket back to its launch pad in Florida, preparing for a new liftoff this Thursday. This mission includes high-powered broadband payloads for Viasat, following an eight-day delay due to engine changes.

In another development, NASA and SpaceX announced a delay for the launch of the Crew Dragon “Resilience” spacecraft, which is now rescheduled for 7:27 p.m. EST on Sunday. This delay aims to ensure optimal weather and sea conditions for the mission.

Meanwhile, SpaceX’s next Falcons 9 rocket has been positioned vertically for a planned launch on Sunday morning, carrying the Intelsat 35e communications satellite. This flight represents another critical advancement in SpaceX’s operational efforts in the growing field of space logistics.