SpaceX to launch a Falcon 9 rocket first stage for a record 20th time tonight

SpaceX is set to break its rocket-reuse record yet again.

A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch 23 of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday (April 12) during a three-hour window that opens at 9:22 p.m. EDT (0122 GMT on April 13).

It will be the 20th liftoff for this particular Falcon 9 first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description, setting a new reusability mark for the company. The mission is also lifting off on the 43rd anniversary of NASA’s first launch of its reusable spacecraft, the space shuttle, which first flew this day in 1981.

You can watch the launch live on SpaceX’s website or here on X (formerly Twitter). The live webcast will begin about 5 minutes before launch, SpaceX has said..

Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky

If all goes to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth for the 20th time, landing about 8.5 minutes after it launched on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.

The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, will continue hauling the 23 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO). The spacecraft are set to be deployed there about 65.5 minutes after liftoff.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk wants to help humanity colonize Mars and achieve a variety of other ambitious exploration feats. Rocket reusability is a key part of this vision, helping to cut the cost of spaceflight and increase its cadence.

So SpaceX’s reuse records don’t tend to last long. The previous mark — 19 flights for a Falcon 9 booster — was first set in December 2023 and then repeated in February and March 2024.

SpaceX has launched 37 orbital missions so far in 2024. Most of them have been dedicated to building out its Starlink broadband megaconstellation, which currently consists of nearly 5,650 operational satellites.