SpaceX Sets New Record: 25th Successful Launch and Landing of First Stage Rocket on Starlink Mission
With Friday afternoon’s Falcon 9 flight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, SpaceX continued its fast pace of launching an orbital mission on average every two days. Additionally, it accomplished a record-breaking 25th orbital-class rocket landing.
At 2:11 p.m. EST (1911 UTC), the Starlink 12-12 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40). In 2025, this will be SpaceX’s fifth Falcon 9 launch.
The 45th Weather Squadron said there were no weather restrictions and that there was a more than 95 percent chance of excellent weather during liftoff in their forecast released on Thursday.
For this flight, the SpaceX fleet’s Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1067, made a record-breaking 25th attempt at both launch and landing. After launching 13 batches of Starlink satellites, the Galileo L13 mission for the European Commission, and four missions to the International Space Station, it went into service in 2021.
When B1067 touched down on the SpaceX droneship “Just Read the Instructions,” little over eight minutes after liftoff, it was the 106th booster landing on JRTI and the 395th booster landing overall.
The Falcon 9 rocket carries 21 Starlink satellites, 13 of which have Direct to Cell capability. The FCC once again approved emergency use for people affected by the fires in the greater Los Angeles area on Thursday, even though it hasn’t approved full implementation of the DTC service.
SpaceX said earlier in the day that it will provide anybody affected by the fires a month of free Starlink service. Additionally, it provided complimentary kits to shelters, organizations, and agencies assisting in the fight against the devastating and fatal fires.