SpaceX just launched its 50th mission of the year.
It was the 15th launch and landing for this particular booster, which is designated 1088.
The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying the Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. The spacecraft were deployed on schedule a little over 61 minutes after liftoff, SpaceX announced via social media.
The newcomers join the largest constellation ever assembled, which currently consists of nearly 10,300 active satellites. And it's growing all the time, as Sunday's launch shows: Forty-two of SpaceX's 50 launches this year have been Starlink missions.
Previous Booster 1088 missionsNROL-126 | Transporter-12 | SPHEREx | NROL-57 | 10 Starlink missions
All 50 of those launches have been conducted by Falcon 9s. SpaceX also flies two other rockets, Falcon Heavy and Starship, but neither one has lifted off in 2026.
That will change soon, if all goes to plan. Indeed, a Falcon Heavy was supposed to launch on Monday (April 27), carrying the ViaSat-3 F3 communications satellite to orbit, but bad weather nixed that plan. SpaceX is currently eyeing Wednesday morning (April 29) for that liftoff, which will be the first for a Falcon Heavy since October 2024.
Starship, which SpaceX is developing to take people to the moon and Mars, among other tasks, is still in the test-flight phase. The company is gearing up for the 12th suborbital trial of Starship, which could happen as soon as next month.
Fifty launches at this point puts SpaceX on track for about 160 orbital missions in 2026. That would be just shy of the company record, 165, which it set last year. (SpaceX also launched five suborbital Starship test flights in 2025, boosting its total liftoff tally to 170.)
View MoreYou must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
Logout
Mike WallSpaceflight and Tech EditorMichael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
