SpaceX to curb Florida launches as it prepares for Starship operations
SpaceX will reduce the frequency of Falcon 9 launches from Florida this year, shifting future Starlink missions to its West Coast site and reserving Florida for upcoming Starship flights, which are now expected around mid-2027.
SpaceX announced it will sharply cut the number of launches from Florida’s Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center for the remainder of the year as it transitions to its next-generation Starship vehicle. The company’s vice president of launch, Kiko Dontchev, said the recent Falcon 9 mission was the last Starlink launch scheduled from Florida until Starship becomes operational there, reducing the launch cadence from eight or nine per month to roughly two per month.
The shift follows a rise in launches from the West Coast Vandenberg Space Force Base, where Starlink missions will continue to be flown. SpaceX recorded 165 Falcon 9 launches in 2023, most of them carrying Starlink satellites, making the Florida complex the world’s busiest spaceport for a decade.
Future Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy flights from Florida will carry only customer payloads, with a Falcon Heavy slated for August 30 to lift NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and a Falcon 9 scheduled for mid-September for an International Space Station crew rotation.
SpaceX still aims to start Starship and Super Heavy launches from Launch Complex 39A by the end of the year, though preparation work and logistics suggest a mid-2027 debut is more realistic. The upcoming Starship test flight, Flight 14, is planned to carry the first Starlink Version 3 satellites from Texas.
"From here on, Starlink missions out of Florida will fly on Starship," Dontchev wrote on X. "The West Coast team will continue regularly launching Starlink from Vandenberg." "Super proud of this incredible team. You've made Falcon 9 the most reliable launch vehicle in history..."