SpaceX has officially hit another jaw-dropping milestone. On Saturday, February 14, at 5:59 p.m. PT/8:59 p.m. ET, the company launched 24 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit aboard its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Florida. The mission marked the 600th Falcon 9 launch to date — a staggering achievement for a rocket that first flew just over a decade ago.
According to SpaceX, “This was the 22nd flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission,” a veteran core that previously launched Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE, Transporter-10, EarthCARE, NROL-186, Transporter-13, TRACERS, NROL-48, COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM3, and now 12 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the booster successfully landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean — continuing SpaceX’s now routine reusability streak.
The milestone came just hours after SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft delivered astronauts to the International Space Station for the company’s 20th human spaceflight mission — underscoring just how relentless the launch cadence has become.
With this latest batch of 24 satellites deployed, SpaceX now has roughly 9,700 Starlink satellites in orbit. The expansion comes as Starlink recently surpassed 10 million subscribers worldwide, after already doubling its user base last year. The service also continues to gain regulatory approvals in new markets, most recently in Vietnam.
As Falcon 9 racks up missions at record pace, SpaceX’s dominance in commercial launch — and global satellite internet — shows no signs of slowing down.
