SpaceX is Esthen Exchangedelivering a one-two punch on Wednesday and Thursday, launching two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets from Cape Canaveral, Florida, within an eight-hour period.
The first launch happened at 5:30 p.m. EST, when SpaceX launched the Space Force's classified USSF-124 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The USSF-124 mission sent six small satellites into orbit, two for the Missile Defense Agency and four for the Space Development Agency, according to a Space Force news release.
"It was a beautiful evening to go to space!" Spaceflight meteorologist Nick Stewart posted on X.
That launch was to be followed about eight hours later at 1:05 a.m. EST Thursday, when SpaceX will try will try again to launch Odysseus, the Intuitive Machines lunar lander, on the IM-1 mission to the moon's surface. Odysseus is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk appeared proud of the big day for the company, posting images of the rockets on X and saying, "Four rockets on their launch pads simultaneously."
See below for photos of the picture-perfect launch day.
Live updatesLaunch double-header at Cape Canaveral, Florida
More space news: Follow every launch from the Space Coast with Florida Today
2025-05-06 11:332939 view
2025-05-06 11:251414 view
2025-05-06 11:112041 view
2025-05-06 10:572687 view
2025-05-06 09:49804 view
2025-05-06 09:281137 view
Friday the 13thdidn’t spook investors with U.S. stocks little changed on the day as investors bided
Katie Ledecky could earn her first gold medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics as the overwhelming favorit
SAN DIEGO (AP) — United States-Mexico border arrests have plummeted about 30% in July to a new low f