SpaceX runs back-to-back Starlink missions and a rare public Starshield launch

SpaceX carried out a flurry of launches over a roughly 72-hour stretch in early June, underscoring just how routine orbital missions have become for the company even as each one still represents a significant feat of engineering. On June 3, a Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying 24 Starlink satellites, a flight that — if its booster landing succeeded — would mark the 200th touchdown on the droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You' and the 618th successful booster recovery to date. A second rocket launched roughly a day later from Florida's Space Launch Complex 40, adding nearly 30 more satellites to the Starlink constellation. Then, in a rarer move, SpaceX issued a public announcement ahead of a Starshield launch — the company's largely classified, government-oriented variant of Starlink built for national-security customers — lifting off from Vandenberg on the night of June 6. SpaceX doesn't typically publicize Starshield missions in advance, and the decision to do so this time drew attention from space-industry observers, who flagged it as a small but notable shift in how openly the company is willing to discuss its work for U.S. government and defense customers. The two main missions were SpaceX's 63rd and 64th Falcon 9 launches of the year.