SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg SFB Sunday

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 East to begin the Starlink 17-18 mission on Sunday, March 8, 2026. Image: SpaceX

Update March 8, 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 25 Starlink satellites.

SpaceX launched its latest Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday morning following a mission scrub on Saturday.

The Starlink 17-18 mission added 25 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s megaconstellation of more than 9,900 spacecraft in low Earth orbit. 

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 4:00:19 a.m. PDT (7:00:19 a.m. EDT / 1100:19 UTC). The rocket flew on a southerly trajectory upon leaving the launch pad.



SpaceX launched the Starlink 17-18 mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1097. This was its seventh flight, following the launches of Twilight, Sentinel-6B and four batches of Starlink satellites.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1097 landed on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. This was the 182nd landing for this vessel and the 582nd booster landing to date for SpaceX.