By The Star Queen · Saturday, October 31, 2026 · Star Queen Chronicles
Friends, while most of us were digging out costumes and stocking up on candy, SpaceX quietly did something that deserves a full-on celebration. On Friday night in California, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off for the 700th time. Seven. Hundred. I had to read that number twice! ✨
The Halloween Eve Launch
The mission was Starlink 15-18, launching from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff came at 9:04 p.m. Pacific time on October 30, which was already 12:04 a.m. Eastern on Halloween morning. The rocket headed southeast and delivered 27 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, with deployment about 62 minutes after launch, according to SpaceX’s mission timeline.
The first stage, booster B1093, was flying for the 18th time, according to both SpaceX and Spaceflight Now. Its résumé already included Transporter-16, two missions for the Space Development Agency and 14 earlier Starlink batches. About eight and a half minutes after liftoff it settled gently onto the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You out in the Pacific. According to Spaceflight Now, that was the 231st landing on that ship and the 675th Falcon booster landing overall.
It was also SpaceX’s 11th and final orbital launch of October.
Why 700 Is Such a Big Deal
When Falcon 9 started flying, landing an orbital booster and flying it again was still a dream. Now a booster flying for the 18th time barely makes the headlines, and the fleet record stands at 37 flights, set this past August by B1067. That’s the real milestone hiding inside “700”: reusability went from a wild experiment to the everyday way a rocket flies.
For me that’s the part that gets me every time. A launch used to mean throwing away the most expensive piece of the rocket. Now the booster comes home, gets checked over and goes again, sometimes within weeks. Every one of those 675 landings is a little piece of proof that space can be more affordable and more frequent. 💜
A Workhorse Starting to Wind Down
Here’s the bittersweet bit. Falcon 9’s launch pace is slowing on purpose. Spaceflight Now reports that SpaceX is starting to wind down the Falcon program as it shifts its focus to Starship, and that SpaceX stopped flying Falcon 9 Starlink missions from Florida in August. Its October 27 launch was the first time since July 2025 that SpaceX dropped below 150 orbital launches in a rolling 365-day window, after peaking at 171 in December 2025.
Don’t write Falcon’s farewell card just yet, though. Upcoming Falcon 9 missions are still on SpaceX’s own launch list, including USSF-432 from California, currently shown for the evening of November 2 Eastern time (launch dates can move, so treat that as a target, not a promise).
Starship Waiting in the Wings
The reason for the shift is the big shiny one, of course. On SpaceX’s third-quarter earnings call this month, Elon Musk said, “We expect Starship to fly weekly at some point in the first half next year and then second half next year, twice weekly or maybe even more frequently by the end of next year.” Those are goals, not a schedule, so I’m cheering cautiously.
Starship Flight 15 is expected from Starbase in mid-November, according to Spaceflight Now. That date isn’t official yet, and I’ll be watching closely (you know I will!). If you missed it, catch up on Ship 42’s static fire and what Flight 15 could bring.
My Take
Seven hundred flights is a number that will be in the history books long after Falcon 9 retires. It turned “landing a rocket” into something we yawn at, and that might be the greatest compliment any machine can get. Happy Halloween, Falcon 9. You’re no ghost story, you’re a legend. 🎃🚀
What was your favorite Falcon 9 moment? Tell me in the comments!
The Star Queen
Sources
- Spaceflight Now, “SpaceX closes out October with Halloween eve Falcon 9 launch, 700th Falcon 9 launch to date” (Oct. 30, 2026)
- SpaceX, “Starlink Mission” (Starlink 15-18 mission page, Oct. 30, 2026)
- Spaceflight Now, “SpaceX launches Starlink mission on a Falcon booster’s record-breaking 37th flight” (Aug. 24, 2026)
- SpaceX, Launches page (mission list and upcoming launches)