SpaceX equaled the number of launches it had in 2022 still with just under four months to go in the year with a launch from California on Saturday. It’s then passed that record with its 62nd orbital launch of the year on Sunday night from Kennedy Space Center.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 10:47 p.m. for liftoff from KSC’s Launch Complex 39-A carrying another 21 of the company’s Starlink satellites to orbit.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/p7oPfd3eMW
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 4, 2023
It’s part of a busy night for the company that is also bringing home the Crew-6 crew on Crew Dragon Endeavour for a splashdown at 12:17 a.m. Monday off the coast of Florida.
SpaceX Crew-6 departs International Space Station on way home for Florida splashdown
The first-stage booster on this mission flew for the 10th time with the company performing another recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.
It marked the 46th launch from the Space Coast with all but two coming from SpaceX. This launch was the 10th from KSC for the year including three crewed missions and three launches of the powerhouse Falcon Heavy. SpaceX has knocked out another 34 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and another 18 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Elon Musk said at the beginning of the year that SpaceX could potentially hit 100 launches in 2023. It flew 26 missions in 2020, 31 in 2021 and 61 in 2022.
It’s on pace to hit about 90 for 2023 not including its attempt to launch the in-development Starship and Super Heavy from its Texas facility Starbase. The company’s first launch ended up with the rocket self-destructing over the Gulf of Mexico before reaching orbit. SpaceX is preparing for a second attempt, but is waiting on approval to launch from the Federal Aviation Administration.
![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 […]")
