VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, California — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 24 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, one day after a rare last‑second launch abort. Liftoff occurred at 10:49 a.m. EDT (1449 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East, following an automated abort on Monday that shut down the booster’s nine Merlin 1D engines at T‑0. SpaceX said the vehicle and payload remained safe but has not yet detailed the anomaly. The episode followed a similar last‑second abort of a Starship‑Super Heavy test at Starbase, Texas, underscoring intensive automated safety protections across SpaceX’s launch systems.

Prepared by Olivia Bennett and reviewed by editorial team.