🚀 Falcon 9 | 🛰 Starlink Group 15-5
Launch date: May 16, 2025 13:43 UTC
Payload: Starlink Group 15-5
Location: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA
Vehicle: Falcon 9
On May 16, 2025, at 6:43 a.m. PDT (13:43 UTC), SpaceX successfully launched the Starlink Group 15-5 mission, delivering 26 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The first stage booster B1093, making its second flight, was recovered on the ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ droneship in the Pacific. The mission marked SpaceX’s 59th Falcon 9 flight of the year and the 20th orbital launch from California in 2025, surpassing 1,000 Starlink satellites launched for the year. Satellite deployment occurred 62.5 minutes after liftoff. Nearby residents were alerted to possible sonic booms, and backup windows for launch were available that weekend. A nearby wildfire did not impact the launch.
Videos
SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA
Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) is part of the larger Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Originally built as Launch Complex 75-1-2 and used by the U.S. Air Force for Atlas-Agena and Titan rockets in the 1960s and 1970s, it was later refurbished by SpaceX beginning in 2011. SpaceX rebuilt the facility to support Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches aimed at sun-synchronous and polar orbits—trajectories best served from Vandenberg.
The first Falcon 9 launch from SLC-4E took place in September 2013. Since then, it has become SpaceX’s primary West Coast launch site, supporting both government and commercial payloads, including earth observation and reconnaissance satellites. In addition to supporting reusable launch vehicle operations, SLC-4E also hosts infrastructure for rocket landing and recovery, helping to advance SpaceX’s reusability efforts.