Early Sunday launch from SpaceX ties Space Coast record

Early Sunday launch from SpaceX ties Space Coast record

After a one-day delay, SpaceX knocked out a routine Starship launch early Sunday to tie the Space Coast’s annual orbital launch record.

A Falcon 9 on the Starlink 10-51 mission carrying 29 satellites launched from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 3:10 a.m.

This was the 28th flight of the first stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.

The Saturday launch attempt was scrubbed with under a minute before liftoff because of bad weather in the booster recovery area.

SpaceX has flown all by five of the 93 launches this year, a total that ties the 2024 record.

United Launch Alliance has flown four others while Blue Origin has flown one.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn, which debuted in January, though, is targeting a Sunday afternoon liftoff during a launch window from 2:45-4:13 p.m., and that launch if successful could set a new record on the Space Coast.

Combined, SpaceX, ULA and Blue Origin should surpass 100 launches before the end of the year.

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