Washington, August 16, 2026 — The Europe Today: SpaceX has set a new launch turnaround record after successfully launching two Falcon 9 rockets just 38.5 minutes apart, carrying payloads for Globalstar and the United States Space Force.
The first Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 9:12 p.m. EDT on Saturday, carrying eight Globalstar satellites to replenish the company’s low Earth orbit constellation.
The second Falcon 9 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California 38.5 minutes later, carrying a classified payload for the US Space Force. The achievement surpassed SpaceX’s previous record of one hour and five minutes between two Falcon 9 missions, set in August 2024.
The rapid sequence highlighted SpaceX’s growing launch cadence and its ability to coordinate missions from geographically separated launch facilities.
The second mission also marked the 650th successful landing of a Falcon booster, further underscoring the company’s advances in reusable rocket technology.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 program has increasingly relied on reusable first-stage boosters and streamlined launch operations to enable more frequent missions, supporting both commercial satellite deployments and US national security objectives.
