SpaceX is gearing up for its first Falcon 9 launch of the month, which will carry another batch of 24 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The Tuesday night launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base features the flight of a new Falcon 9 rocket booster.
The mission, dubbed Starlink 17-8, consists of 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites. SpaceX has launched more than 1,900 of its satellites so far in 2025 with more than 1,600 supporting broadband internet and nearly 300 being direct-to-cell satellites.
It’s targeting liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 8:51 p.m. PDT (11:51 p.m. EDT / 0351 UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket will fly on a southerly trajectory to send the satellites on their way to a polar orbit.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.
SpaceX will debut its Falcon 9 rocket booster, likely B1097, on this mission. Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, it will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’
A successful recovery would represent the 148th landing on OCISLY and the 498th booster landing to date.
Refresh before reuse
SpaceX’s business model for both achieving a rapid launch cadence and being able to lower the cost for access to space hinges on the reusability of key rocket parts. It’s currently working towards certifying its first stage boosters and payload fairings for up to 40 flights for each.
While it has achieved 30 flights with a single booster as well as with its fairings, it does need to bring new entrants into the fold from time to time. So far in 2025, SpaceX added six new boosters to its lineup: B1091 – B1096.
Historically, SpaceX debuts a Falcon booster on a mission for a government customer, like NASA or the U.S. Space Force, but this year four of its new Falcon booster made their inaugural flight in support of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation.
🚀 Keynote Spotlight: Kiko Dontchev 🚀
At last week’s Space Coast Symposium & Expo, we were honored to welcome Kiko Dontchev, Vice President of Launch at SpaceX, as a keynote speaker. pic.twitter.com/yT5HTV6Xdw
— Greater Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce (@palmbayccomm) August 26, 2025
During a recent appearance at the Greater Palm Bay Camber of Commerce’s 7th Space Coast Symposium and Expo, Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s vice president of Launch said that SpaceX is still on track to achieve 170 launches. He said that goal is only feasible because of their model of reusability.
“That is the step function and the game changer that has occurred that has allowed a company like SpaceX to achieve that launch rate,” Dontchev said.
“Reusability has fueled the growth for human spaceflight, for commercial launch and for government launch. And it’s also made a more reliable system,” Dontchev added. “Falcon 9, given this rate, has become the most reliable rocket in the history of the world.”
Tuesday night’s launch will be SpaceX’s 526th Falcon 9 launch to date and its 109th of the year. It’s expected to be followed Wednesday morning with another Falcon 9 flight, this time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
