SpaceX has now flown its Falcon 9 rocket 700 times. The 700th went up from California on Friday night, US time, with another batch of Starlink satellites, and it came in a month that shows how quickly the company is moving on from the rocket that made its name.

A Falcon 9 carrying 27 Starlink satellites lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on 27 October 2026, three days before the 700th Falcon 9 flight. Photo: Staff Sgt. Daekwon Stith, U.S. Space Force / Wikimedia Commons (public domain), cropped