SpaceX chalks up 82nd Space Coast launch of the year

SpaceX sent up another rocket on Nov 21 to mark the 82nd launch of the year on the Space Coast.

A Falcon 9 lifted off at 11:07 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 on the Starlink 6-66 mission carrying 24 of the internet satellites to low-Earth orbit.

To date, SpaceX has flown up more than 7,300 Starlink satellites since the first operational mission in 2019, according to statistics maintained by astronomer Jonathan McDowell. Of those, just shy of 6,000 are still in a working orbit.

The first-stage booster is the latest to join the 20-launch club, and made a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. The record for booster reflight and landing is 23 so far.

SpaceX has flown 77 of the 82 launches from either Cape Canaveral or Kennedy Space Center this year, with United Launch Alliance having flown the other five. The total launches from all providers has already bested the Space Coast’s 2023 tally by 10 with six weeks to go.

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