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SpaceX launch sets turnaround record from Cape Canaveral

SpaceX shot up a rocket Sunday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station that set a record for the company’s quickest turnaround ever from a single launch pad.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites lifted off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:41 p.m.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/exxvpLC6vk

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 7, 2023

The first-stage booster made its fourth flight, once again making a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas downrange in the Atlantic.

The pad last hosted a launch on Thursday when a Falcon 9 lifted off on the Intelsat G-37 mission at 1 a.m.

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/5VzUyRUQks

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 7, 2023

The time between liftoffs was only three days, 21 hours and 41 minutes, besting SpaceX’s previous record from July 24-28 that had a turnaround of four days, three hours and 11 minutes.

This marked the 40th orbital launch from the Space Coast for 2023 with all but two coming from SpaceX.

Including launches from California, it was SpaceX’s 53rd orbital launch, well on its way to breaking its 2022 record of 61 launches.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated the previous turnaround record was set from Feb. 6-12 at five days, three hours, and 38 minutes. That record was broken from July 24-28 before falling to this one.