Update 12:34 a.m. EDT: SpaceX landed its first stage booster on the droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’
SpaceX notched another new rocket reuse record with its midnight Starlink flight to begin the work week.
Falcon 9 rocket booster, tail number 1067, launched for a record-setting 27th time, further cementing its position as the flight leader among SpaceX’s fleet. It supported the launch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites heading into low Earth orbit.
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened Monday, April 14, at 12 a.m. EDT (0400 UTC).
Continuing the trend seen during the Saturday night launch of the Starlink 12-17 mission, launch weather officers with the 45th Weather Squadron forecast a greater than 95 percent chance for favorable weather at liftoff.
Meteorologists forecast the overnight launch opportunity would fit within a stretch of “several days of dry weather with seasonable temperatures across the Spaceport.”
The 27th outing for B1067 comes nearly four years after it launched its first mission, CRS-22 on June 3, 2021. It’s three most recent missions were all in support of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation.
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1067 touched down on the droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ which marked the 115th landing on JRTI and the 431st booster landing to date.
The Starlink 6-73 mission was also be the 460th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket to date.