A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2026, to begin the Starlink 17-20 mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX launches 25 Starlink satellites to polar, low Earth orbit

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SpaceX launched 25 of its Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites from California on Sunday morning.

The Starlink 17-20 mission sent the broadband satellites into a polar low Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a southerly trajectory upon leaving Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 9:30 a.m. PST (12:30 p.m. EST / 1730 UTC).

SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1097. This was its sixth flight after launching Sentinel-6B, the Twilight ride share and three batches of Starlink satellites.

Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1097 landed on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ This was the 173rd landing on this vessel and the 563rd booster landing for SpaceX to date.