Fresh off its stunning Falcon Heavy sunset launch in clear skies this weekend, SpaceX saw perfect weather conditions for its fourth Space Coast launch of the year Wednesday morning just after sunrise.
A Falcon 9 on the GPS III Space Vehicle 06 mission for the Space Force rose through the pink, orange and blue horizon at 7:24 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40.
The first-stage booster made its second flight having previously launched on the Crew-5 mission last fall. SpaceX was able to recover it in the Atlantic Ocean on board the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
The launch was the 203rd orbital flight for Elon Musk’s company since the first successful Falcon 1 launch in 2008. It was the 196th successful launch of a Falcon 9, which first flew in 2010. The company has also flown its powerhouse Falcon Heavy five times.
It has also stuck 165 booster landings, which includes both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. The recoveries have allowed for 140 reflights, not having a failed landing since February 2021.
Musk stated the company could shoot for 100 launches in 2023, which would include rockets flying from Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center, Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as well as Starship test flights from its facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
All four launches so far this year have been in Florida with the first California launch on tap for Thursday morning to launch more Starlink satellites into orbit.
SpaceX will make up the majority of Space Coast’s launch manifest, which could see between 86 and 92 liftoffs among KSC and Cape Canaveral launch pads, according to Space Launch Delta 45 commander Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy. Other launches are expected from United Launch Alliance using Atlas, Delta IV Heavy and its new Vulcan Centaur rockets, as well as new rocket company Relativity Space with its first-ever Terran 1 rocket launch.
SpaceX sent up 48 of its 61 launches in 2022 from either Cape Canaveral or KSC.
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![By MEAD GRUVER (Associated Press) The human species has topped 8 billion, with longer lifespans offsetting fewer births, but world population growth continues a long-term trend of slowing down, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. The bureau estimates the global population exceeded the threshold Sept. 26, a precise date the agency said to take with […]](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/India_Festival_49284.jpg?w=525 "By MEAD GRUVER (Associated Press) The human species has topped 8 billion, with longer lifespans offsetting fewer births, but world population growth continues a long-term trend of slowing down, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. The bureau estimates the global population exceeded the threshold Sept. 26, a precise date the agency said to take with […]")
