The Falcon 9 carried 27 of SpaceX’s Starlink<\/a> satellites toward low Earth orbit<\/a>, where they will join more than 9,000 other spacecraft in the huge and ever-growing broadband megaconstellation.<\/p>\n Best picks for you<\/p>\n \n A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rests on the deck of a drone ship shortly after launching launching 27 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Dec. 2, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)<\/p>\n The rocket’s first stage came back to Earth as planned, touching down on the SpaceX<\/a> droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” about 8.5 minutes after liftoff. It was the 20th mission for this particular booster, which is designated B1081.<\/p>\n The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, deployed the 27 Starlink satellites<\/a> about 62 minutes after launch.<\/p>\n \n The Falcon 9’s first stage rests on the deck of a drone ship shortly its launch on Dec. 2, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)<\/p>\n Previous Booster 1081 missions<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tuesday’s liftoff was SpaceX’s 60th of the year from Vandenberg, according to SpaceflightNow<\/a>. That’s impressive, but the company’s East Coast operations are even more prolific: Ninety-four Falcon 9 missions have lifted off so far in 2025 from Florida’s Space Coast. (SpaceX flies out of pads at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center<\/a>, which are next door to each other).<\/p>\n The company has also launched five suborbital test flights of its Starship<\/a> megarocket so far this year. All of these missions have lifted off from Starbase<\/a>, the company’s site in South Texas.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/nBEUWbYujjbpMYK3wQrun8.jpg\")
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