72 launches and counting: California breaks its own rocket record with two months to spare

Most people were asleep when it happened — a Falcon 9 lifting off at 12:26 a.m. on October 27 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying 27 Starlink satellites, its booster returning to land on a drone ship for reuse. It was a routine flight with a historic footnote: California's 72nd rocket launch of 2026, passing the full-year record of 71 set in all of 2025, with more than two months still to go. Space Force officials expect around 80 launches by year's end and are planning toward 100 in 2027, with new and refurbished launch complexes under construction. 'Today's historic 72nd launch does more than break a 50-year record,' said Col. James Horne III, who commands the unit that runs Vandenberg. 'It highlights Vandenberg's position as the busiest spaceport in the world.'

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: infrastructure build