California has set a new annual rocket-launch record, after a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the early hours of Tuesday, 27 October, carrying 27 Starlink internet satellites.

Liftoff took place at 12:26 a.m. Pacific Time from Space Launch Complex 4-East, a site SpaceX leases from the U.S. Space Force in Santa Barbara County. The 230-foot, two-stage rocket flew on a south-easterly path to place its satellites in low-Earth orbit, and its booster returned to land on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific Ocean for reuse.

A record with months still to run

The flight was California's 72nd launch of 2026, passing the 71 launches recorded across the whole of 2025. The previous total had only been matched days earlier, so the new mark arrived with more than two months of the year remaining and further launches expected before December.

Why Vandenberg's pace matters

Vandenberg has become a central hub for American spaceflight, with officials describing it as a growing centre for launches serving commercial, scientific and national-security needs. Reusable boosters are central to that pace: the booster on this mission was slated for its 26th flight, underlining how often the same hardware now returns to service. Each additional launch also expands the Starlink broadband constellation, which relies on large numbers of satellites in low orbit to provide internet coverage.

Sources: VCStar and The Desert Sun.