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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.
The Tesla Model Y L is arguably the most hyped trim of the all-electric crossover, other than the Performance configuration that comes with white-knuckle speed and sports car-level handling.
However, it is not all perfect. Tesla owners in China who took delivery of the Model Y L, denoted with an L to highlight its longer wheelbase, are experiencing what they are referring to as “collapsing” of the rear wheels, as suspension issues appear to be an issue with some of the builds.
🚨 Model Y L owners in China report rear suspension sag
• Six-seat long-wheelbase Y. Shanghai. On sale since August 2025
• Owners say the rear tire-to-arch gap shrinks after mileage or a full load. Some cases after about 9,000 km loaded. Others near 30,000 km
• Tesla service… pic.twitter.com/Lr6i5Tbi07— Joe Hansen (@joehansen) September 1, 2026
The gap between the wheel arch and tire has narrowed to the point that “not even a single finger” could fit, according to a report from Car News China. The failures are not tied to a specific mileage, as one owner said that after just 9,000 kilometers (5,600 miles), they noticed the suspension issue when their car was fully loaded.
Another one had the issue at 30,000 kilometers (18,640 miles) and noticed that the wheel gap shrank to two fingers, so not as drastic as the person who reported a similar issue at 9,000 km.
Tesla Model Y L is gaining momentum in China’s premium segment
Along with the visual recognition of the issue, others are saying the sagging is causing abnormal wear on the inside of the tires. Extra weight and instant torque already provide additional stress on the tires in electric vehicles during normal operation, so it is no surprise that this is another complaint.
There has been no recall issued by Tesla, and the company has not yet publicly acknowledged the issue.
Some are suggesting that owners use a “finger test” to self-diagnose whether there is an issue with the suspension. There should be four fingers between the tire and the wheel well; anything less than that starts to get dicey.
Tesla is starting to truly tease and hype its groundbreaking Cybercab event, which takes place tomorrow in Austin, Texas. It will be the first time members of the public will be able to ride in a Cybercab, a vehicle without any manual controls, on public roads.
Tesla has been dropping some hype on X over the past several days, but this morning, the excitement has truly started to build up for the event. Although Cybercab has been unveiled before, this is truly Tesla’s announcement that it is ready to start offering autonomous rides for public passengers in its new ride-hailing-geared vehicle for the first time.
The hype has started with a variety of different social media posts that are a true indication that Tesla is preparing for something big. Teasing so much of the potential of Cybercab, including its ability to truly revolutionize how people hail rides for local travel, is what the big idea for the event entails. The time that many Tesla owners, fans, and investors have been waiting for is potentially here:
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 2, 2026
The event has remained slim on details. Even invitees are still awaiting true details about what the event will entail, where they’ll go, and what is in store for the evening. This is pretty typical for an event run by Tesla; they keep things under wraps for the most part until the very last minute.
However, there is no secret about what the real intention of Tesla is for this event: it is going to be a huge reveal party for a vehicle that has no steering wheel and no pedals. It is a truly massive step for the company moving forward.
No steering wheel, no pedals
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) September 2, 2026
Speculation persists as to whether this is going to be an event that simply announces that rides will begin with the Cybercab, or it will be something more substantial. Tesla has said in the past that they plan to sell the Cybercab to the general public in what could become a great way to earn passive income by adding it to a more global fleet of Robotaxi-geared vehicles.
Tomorrow, the show begins in Austin, and the Cybercab goes live at some capacity; we just don’t know exactly how quite yet.
News
SpaceX tells the FCC that Starship Flight 14 is going to orbit
SpaceX filed with the FCC for Starship Flight 14, its first true orbital launch attempt.
SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to fly Starlink terminals during Starship’s fourteenth flight test, and the filing lays out a genuine trip to orbit, something the program has never attempted.
Every Starship flight so far, including Flight 13’s successful splashdown in the Indian Ocean on July 24, has flown a suborbital arc that ends with the ship reentering the atmosphere within the same hour it launches. The FCC paperwork describes a mission profile built around an actual orbital insertion instead.
The payload is the other half of the story. Flight 13 carried 20 production Starlink V3 satellites, but because that mission never reached orbit, the satellites reentered along with the ship rather than joining the constellation, something Teslarati covered in detail after SpaceX released footage shot from one of those satellites as it drifted away from Starship in space. Flight 14 is designed to close that gap. If the orbital insertion holds, the roughly 20 V3 satellites onboard would separate into an operational orbit and could eventually go into service, each one rated for about 1 terabit per second of downlink capacity by SpaceX’s own account.
SpaceX announces new Starbase for ‘thousands of Starship launches annually’
Elon Musk first flagged the orbital attempt during SpaceX’s August 4 earnings call, the company’s first as a public entity following its June IPO under the ticker SPCX. He also floated catching the ship with the Starbase tower on the same flight, an idea he walked back on August 20, saying the catch attempt would more likely come “in a few months,” as Teslarati reported at the time. Flight 14 will instead target a splashdown for the ship in the Indian Ocean, the same recovery method used since Flight 12.
Hardware has been catching up to the ambition. Booster 21 completed a full 33-engine static fire on August 28, and Ship 41 finished its own six-engine test the week before. An airspace briefing circulated to pilots on August 20 listed September 15 as the target date, later than the end of August window Musk mentioned on the earnings call, though SpaceX has not confirmed a launch date publicly and Starship schedules routinely slip while hardware and FAA paperwork line up.
The FCC filing itself does not guarantee a launch date. It covers communications authority, and not flight readiness, considering SpaceX still needs Ship 41 fully stacked and cleared by the FAA before Flight 14 can fly. But the filing is a real marker of intent and it puts a specific regulatory process behind what had so far only been Musk’s word on the earnings call.
Tesla Model Y L gets suspension complaints in over odd issue China
Tesla Cybercab event gains steam ahead of massive launch
