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Falcon 9 launches and lands for record ninth time

On Sunday, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket earned its suffix as it launched from the Kennedy Space Center and landed on a drone ship for a record ninth time.

The launch on Sunday was done to deliver an additional 60 Starlink satellites to SpaceX’s growing network of internet access satellites. SpaceX has permission to launch 12 000 satellites, but has only just breached the 1 000 mark.

The real news here though is the fact that SpaceX has reused the first stage of a rocket nine times. This particular Falcon 9 was previously used for the Crew Dragon Demo-1, RADARSAT Constellation, and SXM-7 missions as well as five missions for Starlink.

This was also the second mission for the week from SpaceX which delivered 60 Starlink satellites to low-Earth Orbit on Thursday as well. The firm is not done yet with another Starlink launch scheduled for 21st March.

Following a successful separation, Falcon 9 touched down on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean.

While SpaceX has refined the launch and landing of its Falcon 9 rockets to a fine art, it still has to get the same right with its Starship rocket. While Starship has landed successfully, it hasn’t landed safely yet.

As a reminder, you can pre-order Starlink connectivity in South Africa. Unfortunately you’ll have to wait until at least 2022 for connectivity and there is no guarantee that your area will be covered when the service goes live.

For now then we’ll just keep watching SpaceX fling more satellites into orbit. Even if SpaceX has refined the launch and landing, it’s still exciting to see a rocket launch into the heavens.

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