Groundhog Day launch sends SpaceX Starlink satellites into orbit from California

On Feb. 2, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying 25 Starlink satellites; the first stage landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You and the upper stage reached preliminary orbit about nine minutes after liftoff.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, a date noted in the report as Groundhog Day. The vehicle carried 25 Starlink satellites identified as Group 17-32. The flight continued to a preliminary orbit and the first stage returned to a droneship in the Pacific. The report places this mission among many previous Starlink deployments and notes it was SpaceX's 14th launch of the year. Key details: - Liftoff time was reported as 10:47 a.m. EDT (1547 GMT or 7:47 a.m. PDT). - The mission carried 25 Starlink satellites, listed as Group 17-32. - The Falcon 9 upper stage reached preliminary orbit about nine minutes after liftoff and was set to deploy the satellites about an hour into the flight. - The first stage landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. - The booster used was B1071 on its 31st reuse. - Tracker Jonathan McDowell reported the Starlink constellation at 9,628 active satellites after the launch, and the mission was SpaceX's 14th of the year. Summary: The launch continued SpaceX's steady cadence of Starlink deployments and increased the reported active size of the megaconstellation. Further on-orbit deployment and operations were set to proceed after the upper stage reached preliminary orbit.