SpaceX breaks own record by landing a Falcon 9 rocket for the ninth time – CNET [CNET]

SpaceX Starlink launches are becoming increasingly routine, but the seventh mission of 2021 to carry a new batch of the company’s broadband satellites to orbit also set a new record Sunday morning.

The Falcon 9 booster blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:01 a.m. PT (6:01 a.m. ET) early Sunday. It sent 60 more orbiting routers to space and in the process nailed a record ninth launch and landing, setting a new standard for rocket recycling.

The first stage that boosted the satellites is a veteran of five previous Starlink missions, Crew Dragon’s first demonstration flight, a SiriusXM satellite launch and a Canadian Space Agency satellite mission. The fairing, or nose cone, also previously flew on the Transporter-1 ride-share mission.

After giving the second stage and payload enough of a lift to get past Earth’s gravity well, the booster landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean.

You can watch a replay of the mission right here:

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