Update 9:08 p.m. EST: SpaceX successfully landed the booster on the droneship.
Recently, SpaceX kicked off two new Starlink flights. The first was the Starlink 15-1 mission, which launched 22 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on a Saturday evening.
Lift-off happened at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 5:38 p.m. PST (8:38 p.m. EST, 0138 UTC).
For this mission, SpaceX used the Falcon 9 booster B1082, marking its 11th flight. This booster has previously launched missions like USSF-62, OneWeb Launch 20, and several Starlink batches.
Just over eight minutes post-launch, the booster landed on the droneship called ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This marked a significant milestone—its 121st landing and the 412th overall for SpaceX’s boosters.
With the Starlink 15-1 mission, SpaceX has now sent over 8,000 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. As of early 2025, the total number of launched Starlink satellites reached 376 according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell.
Statistics show that by February 21, there were approximately 7,078 Starlink satellites still in orbit. The satellites from the latest flight were sent to an inclination of 70 degrees, a unique feature first seen in the Starlink 2-1 mission back on September 13, 2021.
The launch was part of Starlink Group 2, which included eight missions with the latest being Starlink 2-10 on May 31, 2023. Satellites launched for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) also reached this 70-degree inclination. These are likely Starshield satellites, designed for government use and developed by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman.
Notably, the NROL-126 mission on November 30, 2024, included 20 Starlink satellites as part of its payload.
It’s still unclear whether any Starshield satellites were on this recent flight or if the mission aimed to replace deorbited satellites. As of February 21, McDowell’s data indicated that 12 out of the 408 Starlink V1.5 satellites from Group 2 are no longer in orbit.
