SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket completed its 70th launch of the year, deploying 26 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg

SpaceX completed its 70th Falcon 9 rocket launch of the year, successfully deploying 26 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. The Starlink 15-8 mission lifted off on Sunday, June 8, at 7:20 a.m. PDT (10:20 a.m. EDT) from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base. An update later on June 8 confirmed the successful deployment of all satellites, per Spaceflight Now.

This mission utilized the Falcon 9 booster, B1088, marking its seventh flight, including missions for NASA and the National Reconnaissance Office. A little over eight minutes after liftoff, the booster executed a precise landing on the droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You,' which was its 135th landing. This recovery also brought SpaceX's total booster landing to an impressive 459. As it completed its seventh flight, the first stage booster had previously supported NROL-126, Transporter-12, SPHEREx, NROL-57, and three prior Starlink missions.

Looking ahead, SpaceX is now targeting Tuesday, June 10, for the launch of Axiom Space's Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the International Space Station (ISS). The Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off at 8:22 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with a backup launch window on Wednesday, June 11, at 8:00 a.m. ET. This mission will mark the first flight for the Dragon spacecraft involved, while the first stage booster will be undertaking its second flight, having previously launched a Starlink mission. After stage separation, the Falcon 9's first stage is set to land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the Ax-4 crew plans to conduct over 60 scientific experiments and demonstrations, focusing on human research, Earth observation, and various life and material sciences. You can watch a live webcast of this mission, beginning approximately two hours before liftoff, on SpaceX's platforms, including their X account and the new X TV app.

Further demonstrating its ambition, SpaceX aims to significantly increase its launch frequency in 2025, targeting an orbital mission nearly every other day. According to Anne Mason, SpaceX's Director of National Security Space Launch, the company is striving for a remarkable 170 launches by the end of the year. This aggressive schedule would represent a substantial jump from their prior record of 134 orbital liftoffs, which was established just last year.

Mason expressed her continued amazement at this high cadence, noting that while 2020 saw a healthy rate of roughly 25 launches, or twice a month, the current average of a launch every two to three days highlights the critical role of Falcon's reusability and reliability, alongside the dedicated efforts of the SpaceX team, in ensuring consistent access to space. Of last year's 134 orbital liftoffs, SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket was responsible for 132, with the remaining two conducted by the powerful Falcon Heavy. Both Falcon variants leverage reusable first stages, a key factor in SpaceX's impressive launch frequency, even as their upper stages remain expendable, a component SpaceX has become efficient at producing.