Cape Canaveral, Florida – SpaceX is on track to surpass the total number of Space Shuttle missions launched from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The combination of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket launches currently matches the total number of shuttle flights seen at that pad.
With the upcoming Starlink 6-56 mission scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX will achieve 83 orbital launches from its KSC pad, exceeding the 82 shuttle launches that occurred over the 30-year history of the program.
The Falcon 9 rocket arrived at pad 39 shortly before the scheduled liftoff time for the mission. SpaceX announced additional launch opportunities available until later in the day.
The missions conducted by SpaceX consist of 74 Falcon 9 launches and nine Falcon Heavy launches. Live coverage of the event will be provided by Spaceflight Now.
The first stage booster for this mission, with tail number B1083 in the SpaceX fleet, will be making its third launch. It has previously supported the Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station and the Starlink 6-48 mission.
After liftoff, the booster is expected to land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ marking the 68th booster landing for ASOG and the 305th first stage landing for SpaceX overall.
The Starlink 6-56 mission will add another 23 Starlink satellites to the existing constellation, bringing the total number of Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX to 702 in 2024.
According to orbital tracker Jonathan McDowell, as of a recent date, there are currently 5,935 Starlink satellites in orbit out of a total of 6,350 launched to date.
Following the Starlink 6-56 mission, SpaceX plans to launch the Starlink 8-2 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, adding another 20 satellites to low Earth orbit. This mission includes 13 Starlink satellites featuring Direct to Cell capability.