SpaceX Hits 100 Orbital Missions in 2026, Third Consecutive Year Above the Century Mark

SpaceX launched its 100th mission of 2026 on August 19, sending 24 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The milestone marks the third consecutive year SpaceX has surpassed 100 orbital launches, with 74 of this year's missions devoted to building out the Starlink megaconstellation of nearly 11,000 satellites.

Key Takeaways

SpaceX launched its 100th mission of 2026 on August 19, sending 24 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The milestone marks the third consecutive year SpaceX has surpassed 100 orbital launches, with 74 of this year's missions devoted to building out the Starlink megaconstellation of nearly 11,000 satellites.

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SpaceX launched its 100th mission of 2026 on August 19, sending 24 Starlink internet satellites to low Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 12:01 a.m. EDT, and its first stage landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You about 8.5 minutes later. It was the 12th mission for booster B1097, which also performed SpaceX's 600th orbital rocket landing earlier this year. The vast majority of this year's 100 missions -- 74 of them -- have been Starlink launches, building out a constellation of nearly 11,000 operational satellites. SpaceX first topped 100 launches in 2024 (138 total) and flew 170 times in 2025. The company aims to eventually launch its Starship vehicle multiple times per day, targeting annual tallies of around 1,000 missions.