SpaceX Achieves 600th Falcon 9 Launch Milestone Following Successful ISS Docking
Lompoc, Sunday, 15 February 2026.
SpaceX reinforces its market dominance with a historic 600th Falcon 9 launch, occurring just hours after its Crew-12 astronauts docked at the ISS. This rapid operational cadence highlights the economic efficiency and reliability of the company’s reusable rocket technology.
Operational Velocity and Reusability
SpaceX continues to accelerate its launch cadence, marking its 600th Falcon 9 flight with the Starlink 17-13 mission [1]. The mission, scheduled for liftoff on the evening of Saturday, February 14, 2026, from Vandenberg Space Force Base, deployed 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit [1]. This milestone occurred just hours after the company successfully docked its Crew Dragon spacecraft at the International Space Station (ISS), demonstrating an ability to manage simultaneous high-profile operations on opposite coasts of the United States [1]. The Starlink mission utilized the Falcon 9 first-stage booster tail number 1081, which completed its 22nd flight [1]. Following the launch, the booster targeted a landing on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean [1]. A successful recovery signifies the 178th landing on this specific vessel and the 571st total booster landing for the company, underscoring the mature reusability that drives SpaceX’s operational economics [1].
Restoring Critical Orbital Capacity
Earlier on Saturday, the Crew Dragon “Freedom” docked with the ISS at 3:11 p.m. EST, carrying the Crew-12 astronauts [4]. The hatch opening occurred at 5:30 p.m. EST, allowing the four-person team to join Expedition 74 [4]. This arrival restores the space station to full crew capacity following the medical evacuation of Crew-11 in January 2026, which had left the orbiting laboratory understaffed for approximately two weeks [3]. The Crew-12 mission launched on Friday, February 13, at 5:15 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station [2][4]. The diverse crew includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev [2][5]. They are scheduled to remain in orbit for an eight-month duration [3].
Infrastructure Expansion
Beyond the passenger manifest, the Crew-12 launch marked a significant infrastructure development at Cape Canaveral. The Falcon 9 first stage executed a landing at Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40), a new facility adjacent to the launch pad [2]. This was the first booster landing at LZ-40, which replaces Landing Zone 1 after the latter was reassigned to other providers by the U.S. Space Force [2]. This expansion of ground-based landing capabilities allows for more flexible recovery operations for missions that do not require drone ship support.