A chapter in Space Coast history quietly closed in the early hours of August 25, 2026, when a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral's Pad 40 on what SpaceX says will be the final Falcon 9 Starlink launch ever flown from Florida. Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX's vice president of launch operations, confirmed the milestone on social media, noting the flight even used the fleet's lead booster.
Over the course of its Florida run, the Falcon 9 carried more than 260 Starlink missions from the Space Coast, helping build what SpaceX describes as the largest low-Earth orbit satellite constellation in existence, now providing connectivity to millions of people worldwide. Dontchev credited the launch team for making the Falcon 9 "the most reliable launch vehicle in history." Starlink launches will continue from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, but Florida's next chapter belongs to Starship.
SpaceX has been laying the groundwork to bring its massive Starship rocket to Kennedy Space Center for some time. Under a plan called "Project Ignition," the company recently filed documents to build a static fire test stand at KSC on roughly 101 acres near Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge — about 55 acres of which are classified as wetlands. That application still requires review and approval from the St. Johns River Water Management District.
The transition carries significant implications for the region. At over 400 feet tall, Starship is the world's largest rocket and is designed to be fully reusable for missions to the Moon and Mars. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said Starship is tentatively targeting its first orbital attempt by the end of August 2026 and projected the possibility of at least one Florida launch per day within roughly a year. Separately, on the same day as the final Falcon 9 Starlink flight, SpaceX announced a new high-cadence launch facility called Starbase Louisiana.
This story was originally reported by WESH 2 News.
