SpaceX last week pushed the Space Coast to a new record for launches on the year, but had to wait a day before adding to that total after aborting a Sunday night attempt.
A Falcon 9 with another 23 Starlink satellites lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 targeting 7:20 p.m. having aborted Sunday’s attempt with just seconds on the countdown clock.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/TkcBM2iSHq
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 30, 2023
The first-stage booster made its eighth flight with a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic.
The launch was the 59th of the year from either Canaveral or neighboring Kennedy Space Center. A mission on Oct. 21 from the same launch pad marked Florida’s 58th liftoff of the year surpassing 2022’s record of 57. SpaceX has had the king’s share of those responsible for all but four of the launches, with three coming from United Launch Alliance and one from Relativity Space.
It becomes the 44th from Canaveral for SpaceX while adding another 11 from KSC. Of those, 51 are by the company workhorse Falcon 9 rocket with the other four by its powerhouse Falcon Heavy.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/yC4VCU7SuJ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 29, 2023
SpaceX has also flown 23 missions from California, including one early Sunday also for Starlink, so this launch became Elon Musk’s 78th of the year not including the lone Starship and Super Heavy attempt from Texas back in April.
The majority of the 2023 launches have been to add to the company’s expanding Starlink internet satellite constellation, which has had more than 5,300 launched since 2019, according to statistics tracked by astronomer Jonathan McDowell. The Federal Communications Commission last year upped SpaceX’s license to allow for up to 7,500, and most of 2023’s launches have been to ship up the larger V2 mini versions of the satellites. An even larger version is planned for when Starship comes online.
ULA targets Christmas Eve launch for new Vulcan Centaur rocket
The remainder of the year could see the Space Coast surpass 70 launches with several more Starlink missions, a resupply mission for NASA coming up as early as Nov. 5, a landmark mission to send up a commercial lunar lander as early as Nov. 14 and possibly a fifth Falcon Heavy flight on a mission for the Space Force.
ULA also has one more mission planned for 2023 having announced a Dec. 24 target for the first flight of its new Vulcan Centaur rocket, which is also carrying a commercial lunar lander.
![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 […]")
