SpaceX achieved its 100th mission of 2026 on Aug. 19 when a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 12:01 a.m. EDT. The launch marked the 97th Falcon 9 flight of the year and the third consecutive year SpaceX has reached the century mark. The rocket carried 24 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, with deployment expected 61.5 minutes after liftoff. The first stage of the Falcon 9 landed successfully on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' about 8.5 minutes into the flight. This was the 12th mission for booster B1097, which previously achieved the 600th orbital rocket landing in SpaceX's history during a Starlink mission in April. SpaceX has conducted 74 launches this year dedicated to Starlink, expanding its constellation to nearly 11,000 operational satellites. The company also completed three non-Falcon 9 missions in 2026, including a Falcon Heavy launch and two suborbital Starship test flights. SpaceX first surpassed 100 launches in 2024 with 138 missions, setting a new industry benchmark.