SpaceX Notches 50th West Coast Launch of 2026 With Starlink

HAWTHORNE, Calif. — SpaceX's West Coast launch machine hit another milestone this month, sending a fresh batch of Starlink satellites to orbit from California and notching its 50th launch of the year from the Pacific coast as the company keeps rewriting its own cadence records.

50th California Launch of 2026

The Starlink 17-38 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying 24 satellites and marking SpaceX's 50th flight from the West Coast in 2026. The Falcon 9 first stage, booster B1093, was flying its 16th mission — a history that already included two Space Development Agency launches and the Transporter-16 rideshare — before landing on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific, according to Spaceflight Now's coverage. The 24 satellites deployed just over an hour after liftoff in the year's 71st operational Starlink delivery.

A Two-Coast Tempo

The California surge comes as SpaceX shifts launch volume westward while its Florida pads make room for Starship preparations. Even so, the East Coast has stayed busy: within days the company also flew its 93rd Falcon 9 of the year from Cape Canaveral, underscoring a launch rate no other operator is close to matching. Reusable boosters remain the engine of that pace, with individual first stages now routinely logging 15-plus flights and turning around in a matter of weeks.

Building the Backbone

Each Starlink batch thickens the constellation that funds SpaceX's broader ambitions, from crewed spaceflight to orbital AI compute. The satellites deployed on this mission add capacity for a network that already serves millions of customers worldwide, and the steady drumbeat of West Coast launches keeps widening coverage over the Pacific and beyond.

The manifest stays packed through the rest of the year, including NASA's upcoming Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station. With Vandenberg humming, reusable hardware turning around faster than ever, and Starship work ramping in Texas, SpaceX's West Coast surge is one more sign of a launch program that is still accelerating — and a Starlink network that expands a little further with every flight. If the current pace holds, 2026 will comfortably stand as the busiest year in the company's history on both coasts.