SpaceX to break new record with upcoming back-to-back launches

SpaceX aims to break another company record before the year's end, with its fastest ever back-to-back Falcon 9 missions.

On December 18th, SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 shuttling 52 Starlink satellites into orbit with a scheduled liftoff at 4:24 a.m. EST (09:24 UTC). The B1051 booster will be used, marking its eleventh space flight, and is SpaceX's most flown first-stage booster. One other booster has made it to ten flights, and two more have made it to nine flights.

Approximately 18 and a half hours after the Starlink mission, another Falcon 9 mission carrying a Turkish Turksat 5B geostationary communications satellite will fly, with its launch window opening at 10:58 p.m. EST Saturday (03:58 UTC Sunday). The booster for that mission will be the B1067, making its third space flight.

SpaceX's current record for the fastest turnaround between Falcon 9 missions is 44 hours. With successful, on-time launches this Saturday, SpaceX will shorten that to just 18 hours and 34 minutes. With SpaceX hoping to launch as many as 42,000 Starlink satellites, the increasingly fast turnaround times for missions bodes well for the company's future.