Business as usual had to wait a day for SpaceX, but managed Friday the company’s 75th Starlink launch of the year as the orbiting constellation of satellites continues to grow.
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 carrying 29 Starlink satellites. (Courtesy/SpaceX)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 carrying 29 Starlink satellites. (Courtesy/SpaceX)
A Falcon 9 loaded with 29 of the company’s broadband satellites on the Starlink 10-39 mission lifted off at 11:04 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40.
The company aborted a Thursday attempt after running the countdown clock to under 30 seconds. SpaceX did not report why it called the abort, and it was able to come back in less than day to send the satellites into orbit.
Among these 29 satellites are the 2,000th launched this year, with missions having been flown from both Florida and California.
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This batch of Starlinks brings the total to nearly 12,800 of the satellites launched since the first operational versions were deployed in 2019. Nearly 10,000 of those are still operational, according to statistics maintained by astronomer Jonathan McDowell.
Space Coast launch schedule
The first-stage booster for this mission made its 30th trip to space with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.
It was the 53rd launch from all providers on the Space Coast in 2026 with SpaceX responsible for all by seven of those. United Launch Alliance has flown five while Blue Origin with a New Glenn mission and NASA with the Artemis II flight were the other two.
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