On the heels of the record-setting month, the Falco 9 rocket team marked entered Otober with a Friday morning launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The two-stage rocket blasted off at 7:06 a.m., followed by the first-stage booster’s landing minutes later on the droneship positioned the Pacific Ocean.

The rocket deployed the 28 Starlink satellites roughly an hour after launch, SpaceX said.

This was the first launch of October for the Vandenberg team, following a busy September. 

“Special shout out to the entire west coast team for their first ever 8 launch/month,” Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX vice president of launch, said on social media. “It’s also the first time since October 2019 that Vandy launched 50% or more of the manifest.”

The milestone means Dontchev will wind up with a pie in the face and a dousing in a dunk tank, he said. 

“I promised the west coast team that if/when they pulled off an 8 launch/month, I would show up to California in a chicken or clown suit ready for a dunk tank and pies to the face. Time to make good on my promise,” Dontchev added, promising to provide pictures of the payoff. 

Coincidentally, September also marked the anniversary of the first Falcon rocket launch from Vandenberg in 2013.

Since then SpaceX has launched more 150 Falcon rocket missions from Vandenberg and 500 in total from both coasts. 

“It has a been an honor to provide consistent, reliable access to space from Space Launch Complex-4 for a little over 12 years now, helping create a hub for innovation and growth within the local community and beyond,” said Felicia Casciano, director of Falcon Operations at SpaceX.

“And we’re only getting started,” she said during a Sept. 10 event in Santa Maria regarding Space Vandenberg.

SpaceX conducted “an unprecedented 134 missions’ and aims to complete approximately 160 this year from it various sites. 

The firm also intends to modify a second facility, Space Launch Complex-6, to accommodate Falcon Heavy rockets to deliver larger payloads along with Falcon 9 rockets. 

Vandenberg officials said they expect the base could see approximately 70 missions including various rockets and missiles by the end of 2025.