Highlights
- SpaceX completes its 100th Starlink mission of 2025, launching 28 satellites from Vandenberg.
- Falcon 9 first stage nails its 29th landing, underscoring reusability.
- Starlink now 8,800 satellites, 5M users across 150 countries.
- Milestone pushes global, sustainable connectivity to remote and underserved regions.
As the sun shone on the deep blue expanse of the California afternoon sky, a Falcon 9 rocket powered its way upward from Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying not only a ride for 28 satellites but also another signal of SpaceX’s ceaseless effort to get us a connected world. On October 31, 2025, SpaceX hit an incredible milestone: its 100th Starlink mission of the year, which is an achievement that highlights how far human ambition and reusable technology have come together in pushing to redefine the limits of what is communication and space travel.
This most recent launch carried 28 Starlink broadband satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at precisely 4:41 p.m. ET, adding to an ever-growing constellation that now almost entirely blankets our skies. Just over eight minutes later, the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster, now a veteran of 29 flights, landed gently on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, floating patiently in the Pacific Ocean. It was a moment that represented precision, persistence, and all the benefits of reuse: an idea that has fueled SpaceX’s extraordinary pace.
In 2025, SpaceX had 138 Falcon 9 launches, 99 of which were dedicated to Starlink. The company has set a standard that very few could have fathomed a decade ago. What took years of planning and millions of dollars per flight has now become a common everyday activity. The company has really taken the unbelievable and made it the norm. However, when you dig a little deeper, you find a profoundly human story of access, opportunity, and connection.
Connecting the Unconnected
Starlink’s constellation has launched over 10,000 satellites and currently maintains 8,800 in orbit around Earth, creating the largest active satellite network in human history. With its growing network of orbiting technology, SpaceX is delivering internet access to places that technology has never reached before, including remote villages across the Himalayas, fishing villages in the Pacific, rural schoolchildren in Africa, and scientific stations in the Arctic.
As of late 2025, Starlink is available for subscriptions in about 150 countries with approximately 5 million total subscribers globally. Notably, approximately 2.7 million of those subscribers signed up just in the past year, representing not just a technological advancement but, more importantly, growing trust in a company that has powered over ƒd, both in the literal and digital sense.
It’s pretty apparent that the technical achievements, including rockets landing back on Earth and satellites providing data across oceans, are significant, but the human aspect is what makes this milestone truly significant. For many around the world, Starlink is not simply a brand; it is a lifeline. It enables children to learn through virtual classes, doctors to consult across continents, and communities separated by geography or conflict to re-engage with the world outside.
The Perks of Reuse
The principle of reusability lies at the center of much of the company’s achievements. The Falcon 9 booster used for the mission is on its 29th flight and is nearing SpaceX’s reuse limit of 31 flights. This unprecedented ability to reuse rockets has driven down costs and made space launches routine and sustainable, a quiet revolution in an industry that has endured high costs and wasted missiles for decades.
Importantly, when you recover another successful booster, you are not just saving money; you are gaining information, data that will make another flight safer, more expedient, and more efficient. These recoveries also indicate a shifting relationship between humanity and the cosmos. What was once far away and inaccessible is becoming just an everyday activity, not because we become desensitized to the world outside our own, but because innovation is bringing us closer to the unbelievable.
A Milestone that Points Forward
The 100th Starlink mission isn’t merely a number, but it’s a beacon for the future of a connected planet and multi-planetary species, thanks to Elon Musk. Each satellite, every reused booster, and successful launch is one step closer to global broadband, human missions to the Moon, or even colonizing Mars. Each milestone is only laying the groundwork for what comes next.
As Falcon 9 engines cooled and satellites drifted quietly into their orbits, at that exact moment, another home, school, or village somewhere around the globe came online with access. The light of connection flickered on in places before being left behind in the digital dark.
This is SpaceX’s accomplishment this October. Not just rockets or satellites, this is about the people whose lives the technology will touch. This is about demonstrating how innovation with intent can get us just a bit closer to a better lifestyle.
