SpaceX had a successful Friday morning at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, launching a Falcon 9 rocket on a Starlink satellite mission at 11:14 a.m. on August 21. The launch came one day after a scrubbed attempt, lifting off from Launch Complex 40 on the military installation.
The mission's standout moment came shortly after liftoff, when the Falcon 9's first-stage booster completed its 30th flight — a milestone in reusable rocket history — by touching down on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.
That booster has led quite a life. According to SpaceX, it previously flew on NASA's Crew-6 crewed mission, the SES O3b mPOWER-B commercial satellite mission, USSF-124, BlueBird 1-5, Nusantara Lima (PSN N5), the Starfall Demo, and no fewer than 23 Starlink missions before Friday's flight.
Space fans looking ahead have another early-morning opportunity on Tuesday, August 25, when SpaceX has scheduled a follow-up Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral. The launch window runs from 1:49 a.m. to 5:49 a.m., with a northeast trajectory. No sonic booms are expected for that flight.
This story was originally reported by Rick Neale of FLORIDA TODAY.
