July 9 (UPI) — SpaceX launched 29 more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit on Thursday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, marking the 36th flight by the rocket’s first stage booster.
Booster 1067 has made more flights than any from SpaceX and is pursuing the all-time record by NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery which launched and returned 39 times.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched at 5:25 a.m. EDT from Space Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The first stage booster landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean about 8 minutes and 19 seconds after launch.
The launch has been marked a success.
After the early morning launch, the rocket’s exhaust trail created a “jellyfish” effect in the sky above the space station due to the sun’s reflection.
SpaceX intends to reuse its boosters up to 40 times or more. Thursday’s launch was the 597th time a Falcon booster was reused.
There have been 46 total launches from Florida’s Space Coast this year.
Blue Origin has also made rocket booster recoveries, successfully recovering two out of three launches of its New Glenn rocket. The company is preparing for a fourth launch from Launch Complex 36, though the launchpad requires reconstruction after being destroyed during a test fire earlier this year.
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