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SpaceX breaks pad turnaround record with two Falcon 9 launches in six days
SpaceX has completed its 43rd launch of 2022 and 62nd dedicated Starlink launch overall, breaking a launch pad turnaround record in the process.
That pad – Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) – is the single most important cog in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch machine, significantly increasing the significance of what might otherwise be ‘just’ another broken record for a company that is famous for never settling.
Following several delays linked to another weather-plagued Starlink launch (4-34) that flew out of the same pad, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from LC-40 on SpaceX’s Starlink 4-35 mission at 7:32 pm EDT (23:32 UTC), Saturday, September 24th. As usual, the mission used a flight-proven Falcon 9 booster (B1073), two flight-proven payload fairing halves, and an expendable second stage. As usual, all four components performed flawlessly, and a new batch of 52 Starlink V1.5 satellites was deployed about 15 minutes after liftoff.
Just the latest of dozens completed since May 2019, SpaceX’s Starlink missions have become extraordinarily routine – a testament to the company’s relentless pursuit of perfection, given just how difficult it is to successfully launch a rocket once. 62 dedicated Starlink launches later, Falcon 9 has successfully delivered every single Starlink satellite it has ever carried (almost 3400 spacecraft) into the proper orbit, losing only two boosters in the process.
But even though the missions have become routine, SpaceX has spent every waking second optimizing its rockets and operations to squeeze more performance and more cadence out of each part. The results can only be described as a resounding success. In 2018 and 2019, SpaceX launched an average of 17 Falcon rockets per year. SpaceX’s annual cadence grew to 26 launches in 2020 and 31 in 2021.
That progress pales next to the cadence SpaceX is on track to achieve in 2022. In less than nine months, the company has completed 43 Falcon 9 launches. Before the end of July, barely six months into the year, SpaceX had beaten its annual record of 31 launches. If it can maintain the same average pace it’s sustained over the last 12 months, SpaceX could realistically complete 58 Falcon launches in 2022. If it continues the even more impressive pace it’s achieved in Q3 (~17 launches), it could manage 60+ launches this year.
Only one other rocket family in history (the Soviet R-7) has successfully completed more launches in a calendar year.
SpaceX, of course, has no plans to accept the potentially record-breaking launch cadence it’s achieved as a new status quo. Just two-thirds of the way through 2022, CEO Elon Musk revealed that SpaceX is targeting up to 100 launches in 2023. As previously reported on Teslarati, while that figure seems implausible at first glance, it was still within the realm of possibility given SpaceX’s already established capabilities.
Just a few weeks later, Musk’s 100-launch target has gone from barely within reach to a serious – if still unlikely – possibility thanks to the record SpaceX broke with Starlink 4-35. SpaceX’s latest Starlink mission lifted off from LC-40 just 5.97 days after Starlink 4-34 launched from the same pad, smashing its old turnaround record (7.67 days) by almost 25%.
For LC-40, already SpaceX’s workhorse pad and the source of the company’s fastest pad turnaround, the new record means, in theory, that one of its three pads can now singlehandedly support up to 60 Falcon 9 launches per year. Assuming that any launch pad can or will sustainably operate close to its record turnaround time for an entire year would be unwise. But, at minimum, the new record gives SpaceX new margins that it can use to significantly increase LC-40’s annual cadence in a more sustainable way. In 2022, LC-40 has averaged 12.7 days per launch. In Q3, it’s on track to average about 10.3 days per launch.
Most importantly, there’s evidence that SpaceX didn’t simply manage a heroic one-time feat with Starlink 4-35. Confirmed by Next Spaceflight, Ben Cooper, and airspace restriction filings, SpaceX has tentative plans to launch Starlink 4-36 from LC-40 as early as 6:36 pm EDT on Friday, September 30th – a turnaround slightly faster than the new record. Another Falcon 9 launch out of LC-40 – EchoStar’s Galaxy 33/34 mission – could follow Starlink 4-36 as early as October 5th, although that mission is more likely to slip a day or two.
There’s a big risk that Storm/Hurricane Ian will create unacceptable weather conditions, forcing SpaceX to delay the launch, but for now, there’s still a chance.
Tesla has expanded its branded ‘For Business’ Supercharger program that it launched last year, as yet another company is using the platform to attract EV owners to its business and utilize a unique advertising opportunity.
Francis Energy of Oklahoma is launching four Superchargers in Norman, where the University of Oklahoma is located. The Superchargers, which are fitted with branding for Francis Energy, will officially open tomorrow.
It will not be the final Supercharger location that Francis Energy plans to open, the company confirmed to EVWire.
Back in early September, Tesla launched the new “Supercharger for Business” program in an effort to give businesses the ability to offer EV charging at custom rates. It would give their businesses visibility and would also cater to employees or customers.
“Purchase and install Superchargers at your business,” Tesla wrote on a page on its website for the new program. “Superchargers are compatible with all electric vehicles, bringing EV drivers to your business by offering convenient, reliable charging.”
The first site opened in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, which is Northeast of Tampa, as a company called Suncoast launched the Superchargers for local EV owners.
Tesla launches its new branded Supercharger for Business with first active station
The program also does a great job at expanding infrastructure for EV owners, which is something that needs to be done to encourage more people to purchase Teslas and other electric cars.
Francis Energy operates at least 14 EV charging locations in Oklahoma, spanning from Durant to Oklahoma City and nearly everywhere in between. Filings from the company, listed by Supercharge.info, show the company’s plans to convert some of them to Tesla Superchargers, potentially utilizing the new Supercharger for Business program to advertise.
Moving forward, more companies will likely utilize Tesla’s Supercharger for Business program as it presents major advantages in a variety of ways, especially with advertising and creating a place for EV drivers to gain range in their cars.
Tesla Cybercab is perhaps the most highly-anticipated project that the company plans to roll out this year, and as it is undergoing its testing phase in pre-production currently, there are some things to work through with it.
Over the weekend, an image of the Cybercab being loaded onto a tow truck started circulating on the internet, and people began to speculate as to what the issue could be.
Hmmmmmm… https://t.co/L5hWcOXQkb pic.twitter.com/OJBDyHNTMj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 11, 2026
The Cybercab can clearly be seen with a Police Officer and perhaps the tow truck driver by its side, being loaded onto, or even potentially unloaded from, the truck.
However, it seems unlikely it was being offloaded, as its operation would get it to this point for testing to begin with.
It appears, at first glance, that it needs assistance getting back to wherever it came from; likely Gigafactory Texas or potentially a Bay Area facility.
The Cybercab was also spotted in Buffalo, New York, last week, potentially undergoing cold-weather testing, but it doesn’t appear that’s where this incident took place.
It is important to remember that the Cybercab is currently undergoing some rigorous testing scenarios, which include range tests and routine public road operation. These things help Tesla assess any potential issue the vehicle could run into after it starts routine production and heads to customers, or for the Robotaxi platform operation.
This is not a one-off issue, either. Tesla had some instances with the Semi where it was seen broken down on the side of a highway three years ago. The all-electric Semi has gone on to be successful in its early pilot program, as companies like Frito-Lay and PepsiCo. have had very positive remarks.
The Cybercab’s future is bright, and it is important to note that no vehicle model has ever gone its full life without a breakdown. It happens, it’s a car.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that there has been no official word on what happened with this particular Cybercab unit, but it is crucial to remember that this is the pre-production testing phase, and these things are more constructive than anything.
Tesla analyst Andrew Percoco of Morgan Stanley teased the company’s dominance in its self-driving initiative, stating that its lead over competitors is “not even close.”
Percoco recently overtook coverage of Tesla stock from Adam Jonas, who had covered the company at Morgan Stanley for years. Percoco is handling Tesla now that Jonas is covering embodied AI stocks and no longer automotive.
His first move after grabbing coverage was to adjust the price target from $410 to $425, as well as the rating from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight.’
Percoco’s new note regarding Tesla highlights the company’s extensive lead in self-driving and autonomy projects, something that it has plenty of competition in, but has established its prowess over the past few years.
He writes:
“It’s not even close. Tesla continues to lead in autonomous driving, even as Nvidia rolls out new technology aimed at helping other automakers build driverless systems.”
Percoco’s main point regarding Tesla’s advantage is the company’s ability to collect large amounts of training data through its massive fleet, as millions of cars are driving throughout the world and gathering millions of miles of vehicle behavior on the road.
This is the main point that Percoco makes regarding Tesla’s lead in the entire autonomy sector: data is King, and Tesla has the most of it.
One big story that has hit the news over the past week is that of NVIDIA and its own self-driving suite, called Alpamayo. NVIDIA launched this open-source AI program last week, but it differs from Tesla’s in a significant fashion, especially from a hardware perspective, as it plans to use a combination of LiDAR, Radar, and Vision (Cameras) to operate.
Percoco said that NVIDIA’s announcement does not impact Morgan Stanley’s long-term opinions on Tesla and its strength or prowess in self-driving.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang commends Tesla’s Elon Musk for early belief
And, for what it’s worth, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang even said some remarkable things about Tesla following the launch of Alpamayo:
“I think the Tesla stack is the most advanced autonomous vehicle stack in the world. I’m fairly certain they were already using end-to-end AI. Whether their AI did reasoning or not is somewhat secondary to that first part.”
Percoco reiterated both the $425 price target and the ‘Equal Weight’ rating on Tesla shares.
Tesla expands its branded ‘For Business’ Superchargers
Tesla Cybercab ‘breakdown’ image likely is not what it seems
