Elon Musk's space company, SpaceX, set another record over the long weekend, which once again positions it as a pioneer in space transportation: On Sunday at twenty-two minutes to seven in the morning local time (23:38 on Saturday local time), the company launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with 22 new satellites on it for its satellite internet service lineup, Starlink. This launch was the 17th of this particular missile – the highest number of reuses of that missile ever.
The sharp-eyed must have noticed that we wrote that this was a record, but not a 'new record'. That's because the exact same number of launches took credit for another missile of the same model just last Wednesday. Although this is not a break of this record, the fact that two different missiles of the company recorded 17 launches (not six, as appears in the video), after which they landed safely has great significance: it is proof of the company's capability, which shows that it is not only luck that led to one rocket reaching this astonishing number, but a real scientific achievement that can be serially reproduced and completely change the nature and cost of transportation between Earth and space.
And if that wasn't enough, a third rocket of the same model was launched during Yom Kippur (at 11:48 a.m. EST) from California, for the sixth time since its manufacture, carrying 21 additional Starlink satellites. In total, the company launched three rockets and 5 satellites within five days – an almost inconceivable figure for anyone who remembers how rare and difficult space launches were only half a decade ago. These two missiles landed safely 65.8 minutes after launch, so each is waiting for additional launches – the first missile for the 5th launch and the second for the 18th launch.
Another interesting detail is SpaceX's total launches since the beginning of the year: yesterday's launch was the number 109 it carried out in calendar year 2023 – an average of launches every two and a half days (!), and of course another all-time record.
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