SpaceX Launches Two Falcon 9 Rockets just 38 Minutes Apart
An anonymous reader shares this report from Space.com: On Saturday evening (Aug. 15), SpaceX set another mark, for the shortest time between orbital flights: It launched two Falcon 9 rockets just 38 minutes apart, besting its old mark — set on Aug. 31, 2024 with two Starlink missions — by 27 minutes. The first liftoff, from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, occurred Saturday at 9:12…
On Saturday evening, SpaceX achieved a new record by launching two Falcon 9 rockets in quick succession, just 38 minutes apart. This surpassed their previous record of 27 minutes, set back in August 2024. The first rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 9:12 p.m. EDT, carrying eight satellites for Globalstar.
The spacecraft were deployed successfully over a six-minute period, beginning 56.5 minutes after liftoff. The first stage of this Falcon 9 booster successfully landed back at Cape Canaveral about eight minutes after the launch, marking its 14th flight. Meanwhile, at the same time, another Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This rocket was carrying the U.S. Space Force mission USSF-366. The first stage of this booster also landed successfully in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You, bringing its total missions to 18. This series of launches marked the 96th Falcon 9 mission of 2026, with the majority being Starlink missions.
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