Second SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off in just over 24 hours from Florida

Thursday evening, SpaceX launched its second Starlink mission in just over 24 hours from Florida.

After a dinnertime launch of Starlink 6-51 Wednesday evening from KennedySpace Center's pad 39A, the following day brought a similar scene, as Starlink 6-52 launched Thursday from Cape Canaveral.

At 6:40 p.m. on Thursday, the Falcon 9 soared from the Space Force's Launch Complex 40, carrying 23 Starlink satellites to orbit. The Falcon 9 rose into the late afternoon sky before passing briefly through some low clouds. As it continued upward on its way to space, the familiar rumble sounded throughout the Brevard area.

Don't miss the next rocket launch:Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule for SpaceX, ULA, NASA in Florida

SpaceX celebrates 40th launch and landing of the year

While the SpaceX live video shut off before the booster was shown to land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship, the company confirmed the landing on X (formerly Twitter). SpaceX has yet to post a video recap, and it is unknown if the footage was received. SpaceX had a similar issue with the live video the previous day.

The company announced that Thursday's launch marked the 40th launch and landing of a Falcon 9 this year. This includes launches from Florida and California.

This SpaceX Falcon 9 has a history

This 40th launch of the year also featured another booster with its own history.

Thursday evening's mission was launched by a Falcon 9 first stage booster which has flown six previous times. This particular first stage booster launched the Axiom-2 and Axiom-3 crewed missions. It also launched the CRS-30 resupply mission last month, which delivered experiments (and coffee), to the International Space Station.

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.