Early on the 24th of September 2023 a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying twenty-two more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit for SpaceX's growing space-based internet constellation. This particular launch of Falcon 9 was notable due to it being the two-hundredth time SpaceX reused a first-stage booster of the rocket over two-hundred and sixty launches.
The booster for this mission, Starlink Group 6-18, was B1060 which was making its seventeenth launch and landed successfully downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read the Instructions'. B1060 is the second booster to make seventeen flights joining the record-holding booster, B1058. B1058 made its seventeenth launch and landing four days prior with the Starlink Group 6-17 mission.
SpaceX's successful booster landing streak is now up to one-hundred and fifty-four in a row. Falcon 9 is currently certified for up to twenty booster flights.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a space-based satellite internet constellation owned and operated by SpaceX. All of SpaceX's Starlink satellites operate in low Earth orbit providing internet to the ground below to customers of the service. SpaceX is currently expecting to generate $30 billion in revenue by 2025 from its Starlink internet service. SpaceX has launched over five thousand Starlink satellites with over four thousand operational on orbit.
What is Falcon 9?
Falcon 9 is currently the world's only operational partially reusable medium-lift rocket and has two stages both burning kerosene and liquid oxygen.
Falcon 9 in its current form is called Block 5 which is the final major revision to the rocket by SpaceX as it gears up for Starship orbital launches and operations in the future. SpaceX claims that Falcon 9 can send 22,800 kilograms into low Earth orbit when expended or 17,400 kilograms when reused. Similarly, it can send 8,300 kilograms into geosynchronous transfer orbit when expended or 5,500 kilograms when reused.