SpaceX Set for 60th Falcon 9 Rocket Launch from California Base

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, California — SpaceX plans to launch its 60th Falcon 9 rocket of the year on Monday evening. The Starlink 15-10 mission aims to boost the company’s broadband satellite constellation with an additional 27 satellites.

Scheduled liftoff is at 9:28 p.m. PST (12:28 a.m. EST / 0528 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East. By the end of November, SpaceX had successfully launched over 2,800 Starlink satellites in 2025 alone. Spaceflight Now will provide live coverage starting 30 minutes before the launch.

The Falcon 9 first stage booster used for this mission, tail number 1081, will be making its 20th flight. This booster has previously supported various missions, including NASA’s Crew-7 and CRS-29. Approximately 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1081 is set to land on the droneship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’. If successful, this will mark the 166th landing on this vessel and the 542nd booster landing overall.

In addition to the Starlink mission, four astronauts are preparing for a planned launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday night using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft “Resilience.” The astronauts practiced boarding their ship at Kennedy Space Center, while mission managers evaluated weather and sea conditions.

On Tuesday, Elon Musk revealed ambitions for manned missions to Mars using methane-fueled spacecraft. This project may require significant government backing and billions in funding.

SpaceX’s recent activities also include launching a new GPS satellite from Cape Canaveral, and successfully deploying 140 payloads in a previous mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s latest Earth observation satellite, KOMPSAT-7, was deployed into orbit on Monday by Arianespace, enhancing South Korea’s satellite capabilities.

The day concluded with confirmation from NASA that Chris Williams joined the ISS crew aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, marking a significant milestone in his astronaut journey.