SpaceX gets May launches going after helping set rocket record in April

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on May 1, 2026

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SpaceX began the month of May with a launch of its workhorse rocket from Cape Canaveral with, just days after its bigger brother, the Falcon Heavy, helped set a record for different types of rockets flown in one month on Florida's Space Coast.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 more of the Starlink broadband satellites lifted off at 2:06 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40.

The first-stage booster was one of the most flown for SpaceX making its 31st trip to space, making another recovery landing downrange on droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.

This marked the 32nd launch from the Space Coast this year from all launch providers, with SpaceX responsible for 27 of them, including earlier this week the first Falcon Heavy launch since 2024.

The other rockets that have flown this year include NASA’s Space Launch System on the Artemis II mission, Blue Origin’s third-ever launch of its New Glenn, and one Vulcan and two Atlas V rockets from United Launch Alliance.

Five of the six flew just in April, with Space Launch Delta 45 stating that was a record that beat the four different orbital rocket types flown in February 1965 and July 1966.

“This record reflects the dedication of our entire team and the strength of our partnerships here on the Eastern Range,” said SLD 45 commander Col. Brian L. Chatman. “We continue to set the pace for space by guaranteeing space access through precise coordination and innovation.”

The 1966 launches included a Saturn-1B rocket on the uncrewed AS-203 mission that set up the Apollo moon program, the crewed Gemini 10 mission on a Titan-2-GLV rocket along with its Agena Target Vehicle that launched on an Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D rocket, and the Explorer 33 mission on a Delta E1 rocket.

The 1965 launches included the Orbiting Solar Observatory 2 on a Delta C rocket, a Saturn 1 launch of the Pegasus A satellite, an Atlas-Agena B rocket on the Ranger 8 to take photos of the moon and a Titan-3A rocket with an experimental communications satellite.

“From the expendable rockets of the 1960s to today’s reusable systems, the progress in launch technology over the last 60 years is remarkable,” Chatman said.

The variety could grow further in coming years with Relativity Space, Stoke Space and Astra Space all progressing with rockets aiming to launch from Cape Canaveral, while SpaceX looks to bring its Starship and Super Heavy to the Space Coast before the end of the year.

The pace of launches, though, has fallen from the record 109 that Kennedy Space Center and CCSFS saw in 2025.

At the beginning of the year, Chatman said SLD 45 and the Eastern Range were prepared to surpass 100 launches again, But with 32 launches through four months, the Space Coast is more likely to come under the century mark while still getting close to the 93 launches it hosted in 2024.

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