After topping the 2025 total, Vandenberg Space Force Base’s launch number continues to climb for 2026.
The next mission, No. 73 for the year, will take place aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to depart between 8:45 p.m. Friday and 12:48 a.m. Saturday from Space Launch Complex-4 on the South Base to deliver 27 Starlink satellites.
It will be the 18th flight for the first-stage booster, which, after completing its chores, will land on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean for reuse on a future mission.
An early Tuesday morning liftoff pushed 2026 above last year’s total of 71, the busiest for the base since the 1970s, officials said. Including aeronautical operations, the number for 2025 sits at 77.
“Today’s mission marks the 72nd launch supported for 2026 from the U.S. Space Force’s West Coast Spaceport and Test Range — a figure that eclipses 2025’s total launch count with more than two months remaining on our 2026 launch calendar,” Vandenberg officials said on social media after Tuesday’s blastoff.
“Every launch approved by the Vandenberg Space Force Base range is designated by the federal government to advance economic growth, strengthen national security, and achieve critical national space objectives — reinforcing the Central Coast’s role as a global gateway to space.”
The majority of the Vandenberg missions so far this year, 68 of them as of Thursday, have involved SpaceX Falcon rockets.
However, Vandenberg also has conducted two Minuteman III missile test launches, a Minotaur test launch for development of the nation’s next generation intercontinental ballistic missile, and a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket launch.
During August, SpaceX conducted its closest back-to-back launches 38 minutes 31 seconds apart with liftoffs from Florida and California.
In June, the SpaceX team at Vandenberg set a new launch-to-launch record with missions 55 hours, 48 minutes, 21 seconds apart.
Currently, SpaceX employs one launch site for its Vandenberg liftoffs, but the company began working to convert Space Launch Complex-6 to accommodate both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
A live webcast of the upcoming mission is scheduled to begin about 10 minutes before liftoff at spacex.com/launches and on X @SpaceX.
SpaceX also plans additional Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg on Monday and Nov. 5, which are in line to be Nos. 74 and 75 for the West Coast installation.
One mission will deliver a U.S. Space Force payload, while the other will place more Starlink satellites in orbit.
