Falcon 9

The liftoff of a SpaceX cargo ship on the way to the International Space Station early Tuesday was the 31st and final orbital launch from Florida’s Space Coast in 2021, setting a new record for the most space missions to depart from the spaceport in a calendar year.

Fifteen hours after hurling a package of Starlink internet satellites into orbit from California, SpaceX launched a high-power geostationary communications spacecraft for Turkey from Cape Canaveral late Saturday, the first time two Falcon 9 rockets have flown on the same day.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Turkish Turksat 5B communications satellite into orbit around 33 minutes later.

SpaceX launched its second Falcon 9 rocket of the day Saturday night. Turkey’s Turksat 5B geostationary communications satellite rode a Falcon 9 into orbit on a trajectory due east from Cape Canaveral. Liftoff occurred at 10:58 p.m. EST Saturday (0358 GMT Sunday).

SpaceX deployed 52 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit early Saturday after a predawn launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base that routed a Falcon 9 rocket on an unusual track southeast from the West Coast spaceport over Baja California.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:41 a.m. PST (7:41 a.m. EST; 1241 GMT) with 52 more Starlink internet satellites. The rocket’s reusable first stage booster made its 11th flight to space, then landed on an offshore drone ship.

SpaceX aims to set a new record for rocket reuse Saturday with the launch of a Falcon 9 booster from California on an 11th trip to space, carrying more Starlink internet satellites into orbit. If schedules hold, another Falcon 9 will blast off from Florida’s Space Coast about 18-and-a-half hours later with an all-electric Turkish data relay spacecraft.

SpaceX is set to close out the year with three Falcon 9 rocket flights in a span of about 72 hours from launch pads in Florida and California, carrying another batch of Starlink internet satellites, a Turkish data relay spacecraft, and a resupply mission to the International Space Station.