SpaceX launched its record-setting 139th mission of the year today (Oct. 23).
SpaceX also launched the first Spainsat NG satellite, which lifted off atop a Falcon 9 this past January.
If all goes to plan today, the Falcon 9’s upper stage will deploy the Spainsat NG-2 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit about 36 minutes after liftoff.
The rocket’s first stage, meanwhile, did not come back to Earth for a safe touchdown today — a rarity these days for Falcon 9 missions. The booster was in expendable mode “due to the additional performance required to deliver this payload to orbit,” SpaceX wrote in a mission description.
This mission was the 22nd for this booster, the company added.
Today’s flight was the 139th of 2025 for SpaceX, setting a new mark for the company. SpaceX has now launched 134 Falcon 9 missions this year — also a record — and five suborbital test flights of its Starship megarocket.
In 2024, SpaceX performed 132 Falcon 9 flights, four Starship test launches and two liftoffs of its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:45 p.m. ET on Oct. 23 with news of successful launch.
