# List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches (2023)
In 2023 SpaceX's Falcon 9 and [Falcon Heavy](https://www.edgepedia.org/falcon-heavy) rockets flew 96 successful orbital missions, 91 by [Falcon 9](https://www.edgepedia.org/falcon-9) and 5 by Falcon Heavy, breaking the company's previous annual record of 61 launches set in 2022.[1](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/technology/2023/12/30/elon-musks-spacex-smashes-annual-orbital-rocket-launches-record-with-96-missions-in-2023/) Counting two Starship test flights, SpaceX ended the year with 98 flights from four pads in Florida, California, and Texas.[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Falcon launches | 96 successful missions: 91 Falcon 9, 5 Falcon Heavy; previous record 61 in 2022[1](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/technology/2023/12/30/elon-musks-spacex-smashes-annual-orbital-rocket-launches-record-with-96-missions-in-2023/) |
| Total SpaceX flights | 98, including two Starship integrated test flights[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/) |
| Payload mass | Approximately 1,200 metric tons (over 2.6 million pounds) delivered to orbit, equivalent to nearly three International Space Stations[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/) |
| Starlink share | Nearly two-thirds of missions carried Starlink satellites; 1,937 Starlinks were placed on orbit in 2023[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/) • [3](https://breakingdefense.com/2024/01/us-leads-world-in-2023-launches-sats-on-orbit-study/) |
| Fastest turnaround | Two launches 2 hours 54 minutes apart on December 28–29, the shortest interval in company history[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/) |
| Booster reuse record | Booster B1058 reached its 19th flight and landing in December 2023[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcgW7cOOoM8) |
| Reliability | Falcon 9 had a 100 percent success record across its last 228 launches, dating to a pad explosion in September 2016[5](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/09/spacex-breaks-another-booster-reuse-record-but-did-anyone-see-it/) |
## Cadence and records
The year opened on January 3 with Transporter 6, a Falcon 9 rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at [Cape Canaveral Space Force Station](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-canaveral-space-force-station) carrying 114 small payloads into polar orbit; SpaceX had scheduled as many as 100 missions for 2023.[6](https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/01/03/falcon-9-transporter-6-live-coverage/) [Elon Musk](https://www.edgepedia.org/elon-musk), SpaceX's founder and CEO, had set a goal of 100 launches, which he described as a thought experiment intended to accelerate Falcon production and operations; bad weather and technical problems with the final Falcon Heavy launch of the year left the company at 96.[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/)
The year closed with a doubleheader on December 28–29: a Falcon Heavy carrying the US military's X-37B spaceplane lifted off from [Kennedy Space Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/kennedy-space-center) at 8:07 pm EST, and a Falcon 9 with 23 Starlink satellites followed at 11:01 pm EST, 2 hours 54 minutes later. This was the shortest interval between two SpaceX flights in company history and the shortest between orbital launches at [Cape Canaveral](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-canaveral) since 1966.[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/) Florida spaceports hosted 72 orbital-class launches in 2023, itself a record.[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/)
The cadence made SpaceX the dominant launch provider worldwide. Of 223 launch attempts globally in 2023, SpaceX accounted for 98, with the Falcon 9 alone accounting for 91; the United States as a whole attempted 109 launches.[3](https://breakingdefense.com/2024/01/us-leads-world-in-2023-launches-sats-on-orbit-study/) By comparison, [United Launch Alliance](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-launch-alliance) flew three missions and [Rocket Lab](https://www.edgepedia.org/rocket-lab)'s Electron flew ten times in 2023.[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/)
## Falcon Heavy missions
Falcon Heavy, which combines three Falcon 9 boosters, flew five times in 2023, all from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.[1](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/technology/2023/12/30/elon-musks-spacex-smashes-annual-orbital-rocket-launches-record-with-96-missions-in-2023/) • [2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/) The first was USSF-67 on January 15, which carried a classified US Space Force payload to geosynchronous Earth orbit; its two side boosters, flying for the second time after USSF-44, landed at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral.[7](https://www.spacex.com/launches/ussf67)
On April 30 Falcon Heavy launched ViaSat-3 Americas, together with Astranis's first MicroGEO satellite and Gravity Space's GS-1, toward geostationary orbit; the mission had been delayed from January, March, and several April dates.[8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFbp6PVbJQA) • [9](https://spaceflightnow.com/launch/falcon-heavy-viasat-3-americas/) On July 29 Falcon Heavy launched Jupiter 3, also known as [EchoStar XXIV](https://www.edgepedia.org/echostar-xxiv), which was the heaviest commercial communications satellite ever launched at the time; deployment into geostationary transfer orbit occurred about 3 hours 29 minutes after liftoff.[10](https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/07/29/falcon-heavy-launches-heaviest-commercial-communications-satellite-yet/) • [11](https://ir.echostar.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hughes-jupiter-3-satellite-successfully-launches-heralds-start) The year's final Falcon Heavy flight carried the X-37B spaceplane on its seventh mission, the first time the Boeing-built vehicle launched on such a large rocket, with an orbit expected to reach much higher altitudes than on previous flights.[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/)
## Human spaceflight and space station missions
Falcon 9 supported all of SpaceX's 2023 missions to the [International Space Station](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-space-station). Crew-6 launched four astronauts, including UAE astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, from Kennedy Space Center on March 2.[12](https://apnews.com/article/a86b7d62f6806ac5947b2f33f00aaba7) The CRS-27 cargo resupply mission followed on March 15, and CRS-28 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at 11:47 a.m. EDT on June 5, carrying science, supplies, and the next pair of International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays.[13](https://www.nasa.gov/mission/spacex-crs-28/) Crew-7 launched an international crew of four, representing the United States, Europe, Japan, and Russia, on August 26, and CRS-29 launched on November 9.[14](https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/commercialcrew/2023/08/26/nasas-spacex-crew-7-launches-to-international-space-station/) • [15](https://www.nasa.gov/event/nasas-spacex-crs-29-launch/) [Ars Technica](https://www.edgepedia.org/ars-technica) counted three crew missions to the space station and NASA's Psyche mission to a metallic asteroid among the year's highlights.[2](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/)
Commercial and constellation missions filled most of the manifest. A January 10 Falcon 9 launch placed 40 OneWeb internet satellites into a near-circular polar orbit at roughly 373 miles (600 kilometers), the second of four planned SpaceX missions for OneWeb after it suspended launches on Russian Soyuz rockets.[16](https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/01/10/falcon-9-oneweb-16-live-coverage/)
## Booster reuse
Reuse underpinned the high cadence. In September 2023, booster B1058 became the first Falcon 9 first stage to be flown and landed 17 times; the booster had previously flown 11 Starlink missions along with GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34, and Transporter-6.[5](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/09/spacex-breaks-another-booster-reuse-record-but-did-anyone-see-it/) After a significant assessment of booster wear once early stages reached 15 flights, SpaceX engineers believed the rockets could achieve at least 20 flights.[5](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/09/spacex-breaks-another-booster-reuse-record-but-did-anyone-see-it/) B1058, the booster that flew the Demo-2 mission that returned human spaceflight to the United States, reached a record 19 flights before tipping over in rough seas at Port Canaveral in late December 2023.[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcgW7cOOoM8)
## Regulatory context
The launch surge drew regulatory attention. In February 2023 the [Federal Aviation Administration](https://www.edgepedia.org/federal-aviation-administration) moved to fine SpaceX $175,000 for failing to submit trajectory data for a Falcon 9 launch the previous August; in 2024 the FAA alleged further violations during two 2023 missions, including a May 2023 launch from Cape Canaveral that used an unapproved launch control room.[17](https://www.axios.com/2023/02/17/faa-spacex-launch-fine) • [18](https://www.axios.com/2024/09/17/elon-musk-spacex-fines-faa-violations) To support higher cadence, SpaceX also sought FAA approval to increase the annual number of Falcon 9 launches at Space Launch Complex 40 in 2023 from 50 to 56.[19](https://www.faa.gov/media/92831)
## References
1. [Elon Musk's SpaceX smashes annual orbital rocket launches record with 96 missions in 2023, The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/technology/2023/12/30/elon-musks-spacex-smashes-annual-orbital-rocket-launches-record-with-96-missions-in-2023/)
2. [SpaceX launches two rockets—three hours apart—to close out a record year, Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/spacex-launches-two-rockets-three-hours-apart-to-close-out-a-record-year/)
3. [US leads world in 2023 launches, sats on orbit: study, Breaking Defense](https://breakingdefense.com/2024/01/us-leads-world-in-2023-launches-sats-on-orbit-study/)
4. [It Brought Human Spaceflight Back to the US – SpaceX Booster B1058, NASASpaceflight (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcgW7cOOoM8)
5. [SpaceX breaks another booster reuse record, but did anyone see it?, Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/09/spacex-breaks-another-booster-reuse-record-but-did-anyone-see-it/)
6. [SpaceX launches 114 small satellites on first mission of 2023, Spaceflight Now](https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/01/03/falcon-9-transporter-6-live-coverage/)
7. [USSF-67 Mission, SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/launches/ussf67)
8. [ViaSat-3 Americas Mission, SpaceX (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFbp6PVbJQA)
9. [Falcon Heavy – ViaSat 3 Americas, Spaceflight Now](https://spaceflightnow.com/launch/falcon-heavy-viasat-3-americas/)
10. [Falcon Heavy launches heaviest commercial communications satellite yet, Spaceflight Now](https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/07/29/falcon-heavy-launches-heaviest-commercial-communications-satellite-yet/)
11. [Hughes JUPITER 3 Satellite Successfully Launches, EchoStar](https://ir.echostar.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hughes-jupiter-3-satellite-successfully-launches-heralds-start)
12. [SpaceX launches US, Russia, UAE astronauts to space station, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/a86b7d62f6806ac5947b2f33f00aaba7)
13. [NASA's SpaceX CRS-28, NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/mission/spacex-crs-28/)
14. [NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 Launches to International Space Station, NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/commercialcrew/2023/08/26/nasas-spacex-crew-7-launches-to-international-space-station/)
15. [NASA's SpaceX CRS-29, NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/event/nasas-spacex-crs-29-launch/)
16. [SpaceX sends 40 more OneWeb internet satellites into orbit, Spaceflight Now](https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/01/10/falcon-9-oneweb-16-live-coverage/)
17. [The FAA moves to fine SpaceX $175,000, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2023/02/17/faa-spacex-launch-fine)
18. [Musk says SpaceX will sue FAA for "regulatory overreach", Axios](https://www.axios.com/2024/09/17/elon-musk-spacex-fines-faa-violations)
19. [WR for Annual Launch Number Increase LC40 2023, FAA](https://www.faa.gov/media/92831)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Spaceflight › Spaceflight history and chronology › Spacecraft launches by year › Spacecraft launched 2020–2023*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license