SpaceX is set to break its own rocket-reuse record, with one of its Falcon 9 rockets scheduled to launch for a record 24th time. The mission is targeting Wednesday, December 4, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch window opens at 5:13 a.m. EST (1013 GMT), in an approximately two-hour window, and will send 24 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO).
This will be the 24th launch for the first stage of the Falcon 9, surpassing the previous record of 23 flights held by three different boosters. After liftoff, the Falcon 9 first stage will return to Earth for its 24th landing, touching down on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” positioned in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly eight minutes after launch.
The 24 Starlink satellites will be released in LEO by the upper stage of the rocket about 65 minutes after liftoff as part of the company’s continuous work toward its ever-expanding Starlink constellation. To date, SpaceX’s Starlink network remains the world’s biggest satellite constellation with more than 6,750 satellites operational today. That figure steadily keeps increasing.
The feat adds another feather to the already-decorated hat of the Falcon rocket family at SpaceX, comprising both the Falcon 9 and the heavier version, the Falcon Heavy. SpaceX has carried out more than 400 missions on the Falcon 9 to date, out of which 377 first-stage landings of the Falcon 9 were successfully completed.
Success for SpaceX with rocket reusability is a huge deal for space exploration, saving costs and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the aerospace industry.
