SpaceX Sets Record for Reusability of Single Rocket

SpaceX set a new record for reusing the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket, sending it into orbit for the 27th time on April 14, delivering 21 V2 Mini internet satellites. Of the 27 launches, 16 were part of the Starlink satellite internet service expansion program.

Image source: SpaceX

The rocket was launched into space at 6:00 a.m. Moscow time from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Just over eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 first stage landed on the Just Read the Instructions unmanned marine platform in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 115th successful landing of a Falcon 9 booster on that particular platform and the 431st landing overall to date. About 65 minutes after launch, right on schedule, the V2 Mini satellites were deployed into low Earth orbit.

This was the 43rd launch of the Falcon 9 rocket this year. Of those, 29 were to put spacecraft into orbit for the Starlink internet service, which is currently served by nearly 7,200 operational satellites and counting. It was also the 460th launch of the Falcon 9 rocket into space.

Two days earlier, on Saturday, April 12, a Falcon 9 rocket delivered another batch of American Starshield reconnaissance satellites into orbit as part of the NROL-192 mission. The launch was carried out from the SLC-4E launch pad at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.