SpaceX launches 26 Starlink satellites: Falcon 9 lifts off from California; network expands beyond 7,760 units

SpaceX successfully launched 26 Starlink satellites from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday. The Falcon 9 rocket, making its third flight, deployed the satellites into low Earth orbit. The rocket's first stage landed on the drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. This launch follows a similar Starlink deployment from Florida, which completed the first-generation Starlink direct-to-cell satellite constellation.