As Artemis II countdown clock starts, SpaceX knocks out record launch

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Mar 30, 2026

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The countdown clock for a Wednesday launch attempt of NASA’s Artemis II mission began ticking at 4:44 p.m. EDT Monday at Kennedy Space Center.

Minutes later, SpaceX knocked out its 21st launch of the year using a record-setting booster on the Space Coast with another Falcon 9 rocket on a Starlink mission.

Using a first-stage booster for a fleet-leading 34th time, SpaceX launched at 5:15 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with another 29 Starlink satellites.

The booster made yet another recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed in the Atlantic.

The booster last flew Feb. 22 as SpaceX pushes it toward its stated goal of 40 flights per booster. Several other boosters in its fleet have surpassed 30 flights as well.

It first launched in June 2021 and with 34 launches, continues to approach the record set by Space Shuttle Discovery, which made 39 trips to space.

This particular SpaceX booster has notably flown two crewed missions to space, Crew-3 and Crew-4, along with a pair of cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station, the Galileo satellite for the European Commission, several commercial satellite missions and now 22 Starlink missions.

While turnaround on boosters can be as quick as nine days, SpaceX officials have said it takes much longer to refurbish one flown so many times to ensure it will be successful.

It marked the 22nd orbital mission overall from the Space Coast, with only ULA’s February launch of a Vulcan rocket joining SpaceX missions having gotten off the pad.

Blue Origin, though, announced it was aiming for its third ever New Glenn launch as soon as April 8 while ULA is awaiting the conclusion of the Artemis II launch to get an Atlas V rocket off the ground.

With the potential of NASA’s SLS launching four astronauts on the Orion spacecraft from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-B on Wednesday, the Space Coast could see this year as many as six different rockets launch including Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy from SpaceX, Atlas V and Vulcan from United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin’s New Glenn.

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