New record! SpaceX launches 2 Falcon 9 rockets just 38 minutes apart
SpaceX launched two of its Falcon 9 rockets just 38 minutes apart on Saturday evening (Aug. 15), setting a new spaceflight record.
SpaceX achieved a new record on Aug. 15, 2026, by launching two Falcon 9 rockets just 38 minutes apart at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This broke their previous record set on Aug. 31, 2024, by 27 minutes. The first Falcon 9 carried eight satellites for Globalstar, a telecom company, into low Earth orbit (LEO). The second rocket, launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, was part of a classified mission for the U.S. Space Force, designated USSF-366.
While details about USSF-366 are limited, it is believed to be a batch of classified LEO satellites for a U.S. government entity, potentially using SpaceX's Starshield project. Both first stages of the rockets successfully landed, with the Globalstar booster making its 14th flight and the USSF-366 booster logging its 18th mission.
This double launch brought the total number of Falcon 9 launches in 2026 to 96, with around 75% of them being Starlink missions.
Written by urgent.news from Space.com's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
