Following the successful launch of Starship Flight 11 on Monday, SpaceX maintained an impressive pace by conducting five Falcon 9 missions within a single week. These included three Starlink missions, one Project Kuiper mission that had been delayed by weather the previous week, and a mission for the Space Development Agency (SDA).
On the international front, China completed four launches during the same week. Additionally, Rocket Lab successfully launched an Electron rocket from New Zealand on Tuesday.
Starting with China’s launches, a Chang Zheng 2D (CZ-2D) rocket lifted off from Site 9401 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Monday, October 13, at 10:00 UTC. The payload, named Shiyan 31, was described as a new optical imaging technology demonstrator. The satellite was launched due south into a polar orbit. The CZ-2D rocket is a two-stage vehicle standing 40.77 meters tall and equipped with a 3.35-meter diameter fairing.
Meanwhile, SpaceX’s final Block 2 Starship mission, Flight 11, launched on Monday, October 13, at 7:23 PM EDT (23:23 UTC) from Pad 1 at Starbase, Texas. Ship 38 was carried into space by Super Heavy Booster 15, which was making its second flight after previously supporting Starship Flight 8. Booster 15 had been successfully caught by the Pad 1 “chopsticks” mechanism during that earlier mission.
After reaching the planned sub-orbital trajectory, Ship 38 deployed eight Starlink simulators through a payload door using a “PEZ dispenser” mechanism. Booster 15 executed a boostback burn and hovered stably above the Gulf before descending into the water, where it was deliberately destroyed. Ship 38 also completed a successful reentry, landing softly in the Indian Ocean near pre-positioned marker buoys. Like the booster, the ship was intentionally destroyed by tipping over into the water.
SpaceX plans to transition to the new Block 3 design for both Starship and Super Heavy. This transition will include moving operations from Pad 1 to the new Pad 2 at Starbase. The next Starship flight is expected sometime in the first half of 2026.
On the same day as the Starship launch, SpaceX launched a batch of 24 internet satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper constellation. The KF-03 mission lifted off on October 13 at 9:58 PM EDT (October 14, 01:58 UTC) on a northeast trajectory into low-Earth orbit (LEO). This launch had been delayed due to unfavorable weather conditions in Florida the previous week.
To date, five Kuiper missions have been launched—three using Atlas V rockets and two using Falcon 9. Two more Kuiper launches are planned later this year using Atlas V and Vulcan rockets. So far, 129 Kuiper satellites have been deployed into LEO, with a total constellation expected to include 3,236 satellites.
The KF-03 mission launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Booster B1091 made its second flight after a 60-day turnaround. Shortly after launch, the booster separated from the upper stage and landed on SpaceX’s Just Read the Instructions droneship. The second stage continued into orbit and deployed the Kuiper satellites about one hour into the flight.
The Falcon 9 rocket is 70 meters tall with a diameter of 3.9 meters. It is a two-stage vehicle powered by nine Merlin 1D engines on the first stage and a single vacuum-optimized Merlin engine on the second stage. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are currently the only reusable orbital rockets in service. One Falcon booster has flown 30 missions. Both payload fairings are also recovered and reused after flights.
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket launched the “Owl New World” mission on Tuesday, October 14, at 16:33 UTC from Launch Complex 1A on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. This mission was the first under a new contract to launch 10 additional Earth-imaging satellites for Synspective, a Japanese synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data and analytics company. The 100-kilogram payload was deployed into low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 583 kilometers about an hour after liftoff.
Electron is a two-stage rocket with an optional kick stage, which was used on this mission. The first stage has nine Rutherford sea-level engines, each producing 21 kN of thrust at liftoff and peaking at 25 kN during flight. The second stage uses a Rutherford vacuum engine producing 25.8 kN of thrust. Both engine types are powered by electric pumps rather than traditional gas turbines. The kick stage uses a bi-propellant-fueled Curie engine. Both Rutherford and Curie engines are largely 3D-printed, and the rocket’s main stages are made of carbon composite materials.
On Tuesday, October 14, a Falcon 9 was scheduled to launch the Tranche 1 Transport Layer C mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch countdown was halted just before propellant loading, likely due to bad weather. Because the launch window was instantaneous, the attempt was scrubbed for the day.
SpaceX rescheduled the launch for Wednesday, October 15, at 4:06 PM PDT (23:06 UTC). The mission customer was the Space Development Agency, a direct-reporting unit of the U.S. Space Force. This was the second of six Tranche 1 Transport Layer missions to launch on Falcon 9 from Vandenberg. The rocket carried 21 satellites on a due south trajectory into polar orbit. The SDA’s Transport Layer aims to provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide for a full range of warfighter platforms.
Booster B1093 supported this flight, marking its seventh mission. After launch, the booster landed on SpaceX’s west coast droneship Of Course I Still Love You, stationed downrange in the Pacific Ocean. B1093 had previously supported five Starlink missions and the SDA’s recent Tranche 1 Transport Layer B mission.
China’s second launch of the week occurred on Thursday, October 16, at 1:33 UTC. A Chang Zheng 8A (CZ-8A) rocket lifted off from Commercial Launch Complex 1 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site. The payload consisted of a group of low-Earth orbit communications satellites for the Chinese state-owned SatNet constellation.
The CZ-8A is a three-stage rocket standing 50.54 meters tall with a 5.2-meter diameter fairing. The 8A variant typically uses two strap-on liquid-fueled boosters.
Later on Thursday, October 16, Falcon 9 launched the Starlink Group 10-52 mission from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 5:27 AM EDT (09:27 UTC). Booster B1095, flying its third mission, carried 28 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into low-Earth orbit on a northeasterly trajectory.
After stage separation, the booster performed a reentry burn and landed on the Just Read The Instructions droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The booster was then secured for return to Cape Canaveral for reuse. B1095 had previously flown two missions deploying satellites into the Starlink Group 10 shell.
China’s third launch of the week took place on Friday, October 17, at 07:08 UTC. A Chang Zheng 6A (CZ-6A) rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The rocket flew due south, delivering communications satellites into a polar orbit for Group 18 of the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies.
The CZ-6A rocket has two stages and four additional strap-on boosters. It stands 57 meters tall with a 4.2-meter diameter fairing atop the second stage.
The fourth Chinese launch of the week was a Kinetica 1 rocket, which launched on Sunday, October 19, at 03:33 UTC from Site 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. This was the third Kinetica 1 mission of 2025. The four-stage, solid-propellant rocket placed three payloads into a polar orbit flying due south after launch. The payloads included PRSC-HS1, a hyperspectral Earth observation satellite for SUPERACO of Pakistan, and two X-band SAR Earth observation satellites named AIRSAT-03 and AIRSAT-04.
On Sunday, October 19, Falcon 9 returned to the east coast with the launch of the Starlink Group 10-17 mission. Liftoff was planned for 10:52 AM EDT (14:52 UTC) from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral but was delayed into the launch window, eventually launching at 1:39 PM EDT (17:39 UTC).
This mission marked several milestones. Booster B1067 set a new reuse record with its 31st flight after a 52-day turnaround. The mission was also Falcon 9’s 549th flight overall and the 131st Falcon 9 launch of the year.
B1067 had previously flown on missions including CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, O3B mPOWER-A, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, Galileo L13, Koreasat-6A, and 19 Starlink missions. The booster first flew on June 3, 2021.
Falcon 9 carried 28 v2 Mini Starlink satellites to a 53.16-degree inclination low-Earth orbit. After stage separation, the booster returned to land on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, stationed approximately 640 kilometers downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.
Later that same day, a second Falcon 9 launched from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 12:24 PM PDT (19:24 UTC), about two hours later than originally planned. Booster B1088 supported the Starlink Group 11-19 mission, carrying 28 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit on a southeasterly trajectory.
B1088 was flying for the eleventh time and landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship. This booster had previously supported missions including NROL-126, Transporter 12, SPHEREx & PUNCH, NROL-57, and six Starlink missions since its first flight in November 2024.
Overall, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets demonstrated a remarkable launch cadence, completing five missions in one week. Meanwhile, China maintained a steady pace with four launches, and Rocket Lab continued its Earth observation satellite deployments from New Zealand. This week’s launches highlight the ongoing global activity in satellite deployment and space access.