SpaceX reached a significant operational milestone on September 13, executing the 700th mission for its Falcon rocket family. The launch, conducted at 2:49 p.m. EDT (1849 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, delivered the final three satellites for the SES O3b mPOWER constellation.
The Falcon 9 first stage returned to Earth approximately nine minutes after liftoff, touching down on the autonomous drone ship named “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean. This booster, identified as B1080, marked its 29th flight, having previously supported missions including Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, and numerous Starlink deployments.
Following stage separation, the upper stage continued its trajectory to propel the three satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO). At roughly 33.5 minutes post-launch, the payloads were released over a 14-minute window at an altitude of 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers).
With this deployment, the SES constellation is now complete. The operator currently manages a total of 13 O3b mPOWER satellites in orbit. Built by Boeing, each spacecraft weighs approximately 3,750 pounds (1,700 kilograms). SES has utilized SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicles for all six launch campaigns required to deploy the full constellation, which began in December 2022.
In a statement regarding the completed network, SES highlighted the system’s design for industries requiring guaranteed uptime. The company noted that the satellites pair advanced software-defined hardware with an intelligent ground ecosystem to provide predictable low latency and exceptional throughput amid rising global bandwidth demands.
This event marks SpaceX’s 107th orbital launch of 2026. The Falcon 9 accounted for 105 of those flights, while the Falcon Heavy conducted the remaining two. The Falcon family traces its origins to March 2006 with the debut of the Falcon 1, which flew five times with two successes before being succeeded by the Falcon 9 in 2010. The Falcon Heavy has launched 13 times to date.
Beyond orbital missions, SpaceX has conducted two suborbital test flights of its Starship vehicle in 2026 and is preparing for a third attempt, which is expected to achieve orbit for the first time.
From five Falcon 1 flights in 2006 to seven hundred now. What a time to be alive for space enthusiasts.
Wait, did they deploy all three satellites at once or one by one over the fourteen minutes?
Finally, the O3b mPOWER constellation is complete. This should really improve global bandwidth for remote industries.
I wonder how the long-term structural fatigue affects flight B1080 after nearly three dozen missions. Seems risky.
Twenty-nine flights for one booster? The reusability engineering here is genuinely mind-blowing stuff.