NEWS — Falcon 9 rocket RSS

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Twilight rideshare mission stood vertical at California’s Pad 4E before lifting off early in the morning to place around 40 satellites into a dusk-dawn sun-synchronous orbit. The mission, which included NASA’s Pandora exoplanet observatory and other small spacecraft, highlights SpaceX’s growing rideshare capability and continued commitment to affordable, versatile access to space.

In 2025 SpaceX executed 165 Falcon rocket launches, a new annual record, and conducted five Starship flight tests, underscoring the company’s rapid operational cadence and commitment to advancing human space exploration. Falcon 9’s ongoing reuse and reliability enabled frequent orbital missions that supported Starlink constellation deployment and diverse commercial and government payloads, while Starship tests progressed toward the goal of interplanetary travel. These achievements highlight SpaceX’s pivotal role in expanding space infrastructure and edging closer to its vision of making life multiplanetary.

In 2025, SpaceX executed a record-breaking launch cadence, flying more than 120 Falcon 9 missions dedicated to expanding the Starlink satellite constellation. These deployments added over 270 Tbps of new network capacity, enabling Starlink to support a rapidly growing global user base of over 9 million subscribers and expand broadband access across underserved regions. The achievements reflect SpaceX’s continued leadership in satellite internet and launch operations.

SpaceX scrubbed the planned year-end Falcon 9 launch of the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM3 Earth-observation satellite from Vandenberg Space Force Base due to a ground system issue at the launch pad. While the rocket and Italian payload remain healthy, additional troubleshooting and checks are underway, and a new target launch date has yet to be confirmed.

SpaceX’s mission, as articulated by Elon Musk, centers on expanding human consciousness into space to better understand the universe. This vision has remained consistent since the early days of Falcon 1, with launch vehicle concepts like Falcon X and Falcon XX foreshadowing today’s Starship program. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy served as critical stepping stones, while Starship represents SpaceX’s long-term commitment to Mars, deep-space exploration, and civilization-scale progress beyond Earth.