Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has set a new record for being reused for the 17th time. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched for a record-tying 17th time on September 23, when it lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 11:38 p.m. EDT, carrying 22 Starlink internet satellites.
The rocket’s first stage came back to Earth as planned, landing on a SpaceX drone ship at sea about 8.5 minutes after launch. With the 17th liftoff, the rocket tied the company’s reuse record, set four days earlier by a different Falcon 9 on another Starlink launch.
The 22 Starlink satellites, meanwhile, deployed from the Falcon 9’s upper stage about 65 minutes after launch.
Starlink is SpaceX’s internet mega constellation, which provides service to customers around the world. It presently has more than 4,750 operational satellites. SpaceX’s parent company has received authorization to launch 12,000 broadband satellites and has submitted applications for an additional 30,000 satellites on top of that.
