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 has launched its fourth Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast in less than 16 days. A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off with 60 more Starlink internet satellites at 2:42 a.m. EDT (0642 GMT) Sunday. The reusable booster, making its 10th flight, landed on a drone ship parked in the Atlantic Ocean.
A Falcon 9 rocket and 60 more Starlink internet satellites set for launch early Sunday at Cape Canaveral will mark the first time SpaceX has flown a first stage 10 times, reaching a milestone that the company once said could be a limit for reusing boosters. Now SpaceX plans to keep flying reused rockets on Starlink missions until one fails.
The departure and return to Earth of a four-person space station crew on a SpaceX Dragon capsule has been postponed again by high winds in the splashdown zone in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA and SpaceX officials announced the Crew Dragon is now scheduled to undock from the International Space Station late Saturday for a predawn splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday.
© 1999-2026 Spaceflight Now Inc