Post-scrub, SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches on record-breaking flight from Cape Canaveral
The first-stage of a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off and landed for record-breaking 28th time early Tuesday, May 13, leaving many to wonder just how many flights SpaceX will eventually get out of a single Falcon 9.
The weather had been poor for days, with the mission originally scrubbing on May 12 and then being postponed until the early hours of May 13. The weather finally moved offshore, and the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 1:02 a.m. from NASA's Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A with 28 Starlink internet satellites.
"Fleet leading Falcon booster completes its 28th launch and landing," a post by SpaceX on X (formerly Twitter) stated after the liftoff.
SpaceX continues to push the limits of this particular Falcon 9 booster, with it seeing a record-breaking 28th flight. Previous flights include16 Starlink missions, CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, O3B mPOWER-A, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, Galileo L13, and Koreasat-6A.
To date, SpaceX is the only company to have been successful at landing a rocket's first-stage on a seafaring vessel − referred to as 'drone ships' − for retrieval and reuse. Blue Origin hopes to eventually achieve the same with the first-stage of its New Glenn rocket. Landing the first-stage booster on a vessel allows the company to reuse and reduce the cost of launches.
No Space Coast sonic booms were heard. Just over eight minutes past liftoff the record-breaking booster landed out on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship, which was stationed out on the Atlantic Ocean.
This launch marked the 29th Starlink launch of the year from the Florida. Overall, it was the 41st orbital mission of the year from the Florida launch pads. While the majority of these missions were SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, Blue Origin's New Glenn and ULA's Atlas V have also each seen a launch this year.
When is the next Florida rocket launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Axiom, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral
According to a Federal Aviation Administration advisory, the next rocket launch is set for no earlier than 11:43 a.m. on Wednesday, May 14. The mission, referred to as Starlink 6-67, will be a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket delivering the next batch of Starlink satellites to orbit.
The Florida Today Space Team will provide live updates beginning 90 minutes prior to liftoff at FloridaToday.com/Space.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX rocket launch sees record-breaking flight for Falcon 9 booster
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