SpaceX Launch: Florida’s 100th Rocket of the Year
Florida reached a milestone of 100 rocket launches in a single year as SpaceX lifted a Starlink mission from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The launch occurred on a quiet Thursday night with 41 days remaining in 2025, marking Florida’s 100th orbital flight of the year and signaling a growing cadence on the Space Coast.
“We are breaking records across the board,” Col. Brian Chatman, commander of Space Launch Delta 45, told FLORIDA TODAY. “100 launches is a complete game changer on the Space Coast. We’re identifying efficiencies, getting additional mass to orbit — it couldn’t be a more exciting time to be out here.”
The 10:39 p.m. liftoff contributed to a new launch record for the Space Coast and, for the first time, a triple-digit launch cadence. SpaceX’s high-frequency Falcon 9 missions, supported by reusable boosters, have driven the surge in activity and jobs across Brevard County and Florida at large, according to observers.
As the total launch count worldwide has grown, local officials highlighted Space Coast efficiencies and anticipated continued economic benefits from ongoing rocket assembly, launch, and recovery operations. The milestone arrived later than initial 2024 projections, due to earlier hurricanes and a few Falcon 9 upper-stage and booster incidents that year.
For context, SpaceX’s Falcon 9, frequently used in Starlink missions, faced grounding and investigations in 2024 following an upper-stage issue and a booster landing anomaly, which contributed to the revised timeline for surpassing 100 launches in 2025.
Author’s Summary
Florida’s Space Coast marked a historic 100th rocket launch of 2025, underscoring a record-breaking year driven by SpaceX’s rapid cadence and return-to-flight reliability, with wide-ranging economic and technological implications for the region.