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SpaceX launch from California marks 2nd Starlink mission in 24 hours

a tall white rocket lifts off into the night sky, its bright white engine plume lighting the area below

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carryign 24 Starlink satellites launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday, July 27 (Saturday, JUly 26 local time), 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX launched 24 more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit early Sunday morning (July 27), on the company's second flight in less than 24 hours dedicated to growing its megaconstellation.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 12:31 a.m. EDT (0431 GMT or 9:31 p.m. PDT local on July 26) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The flight marked the 19th flight for the Falcon's first stage (B1075), which successfully landed on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship positioned in the Pacific Ocean.

the bright orange and white flame from a rocket engine lights the scene at night of a booster stage landing on an ocean-based platform

The rocket's upper stage propelled the Starlink satellites into space and was on track on deploy the group (no. 17-2) about an hour after leaving the ground.

The two dispatches in 24 hours increased the total number of active Starlink units in orbit to 8,032, according to satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.

Sunday morning's launch marked SpaceX's 95th mission of 2025, 92 of which were on Falcon 9 rockets. It was the company's 520th completed mission since 2008.

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Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018.In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.

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