Early risers and light sleepers across Brevard County got an unexpected alarm on Thursday, July 30, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:10 a.m. The mission, designated NROL-95, carried a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office into orbit.
About eight minutes after liftoff, the rocket's first-stage booster made its way back to Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral. As the booster fired its engines for a controlled touchdown, a sharp sonic boom rolled across the county — the kind of middle-of-the-night rumble that has become a signature sound of Space Coast life.
The NROL-95 mission marked the 49th rocket launch of 2026 from Florida's Space Coast, a pace that underscores just how busy the region's launch corridors have become in recent years.
Looking ahead, the next Florida launch is currently scheduled for no earlier than 3:42 a.m. on Wednesday, August 5, also from Launch Complex 40. That mission, Bluebird 11-13, will send three AST SpaceMobile broadband satellites to orbit aboard a Falcon 9. A backup window opens August 6 at 3:21 a.m. if needed.
This story was originally reported by Brooke Edwards for Florida Today.
