SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon Test Flight (December 8, 2010)

The launch of another 60 Starlink internet spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Sunday thrust SpaceX past a major milestone in rocket reuse: the 10th successful flight of a Falcon 9 booster. The mission marked the fourth SpaceX launch from Florida in 16 days, with the next batch of Starlink satellites due to blast off next Saturday.

SpaceX ran a Falcon 9 rocket through a customary preflight checkout Tuesday, filling it with super-cold propellants and firing its nine Merlin first stage engines in preparation for liftoff Friday on a resupply run to the International Space Station.

SpaceX disclosed neither the payload nor the customer for this mission but hours after the launch Israel Aerospace Industries said it the Falcon 9 carried its Dror 1 communications satellite. Liftoff occurred at 1:04 a.m. EDT (0504 UTC).