SpaceX shatters pad turnaround record with 45-hour Starlink sprint from Cape Canaveral

SpaceX set a new pad turnaround record at Cape Canaveral's SLC-40 by launching Starlink 6-98 just 45 hours after Starlink 6-97, lifting off at 1:08 p.m. EST with a 29-satellite Starlink deployment. Booster B1085 landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, marking SpaceX’s 139th landing on that vessel and 559th booster landing overall. It was SpaceX’s fourth Starlink launch and sixth Falcon 9 flight of 2026, surpassing the previous 50-hour 44-minute record set between NROL-77 and Starlink 6-90.