SpaceX advances its Starlink constellation with back-to-back launches, including a successful May 4 deployment of 60 satellites. Engineers gear up for the same booster's unprecedented tenth flight in days.
A Falcon 9 rocketed from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 4 at 9:01 p.m. French time, marking SpaceX's 13th launch of the year. On Star Wars Day (May the 4th—"may the Force be with you"), the 70-meter-tall vehicle honored the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's iconic ship.
This booster, a seasoned veteran with eight prior flights, became only the second SpaceX booster to reach nine missions. It touched down at sea about eight minutes post-liftoff, while the second stage deployed 60 Starlink satellites over an hour later.
This followed a Starlink launch on April 28. Of SpaceX's 13 successful 2021 launches to date, 10 carried Starlink satellites, with 1,500 now orbiting.
SpaceX long targeted ten flights per Falcon 9 booster—a milestone within reach. The next launch, slated for May 9 or later, will feature the first booster with nine flights (last in March), achieving a historic tenth ascent—a first in aerospace.
These first stages may endure even longer. Ten flights marked a symbolic goal. In February, SpaceX's Hans Koenigsmann, senior VP of mission assurance, noted that post-tenth success, they'd push further.
"There doesn't seem to be any obvious limit to vehicle reusability," Elon Musk affirmed on April 23 during a NASA Crew-2 post-launch briefing. "We intend to fly this booster until we have a failure on Starlink missions."
Meanwhile, SpaceX expands Starlink: The FCC recently approved 2,814 satellites in lower orbits. Beta testing continues in the US, UK, and beyond, potentially ending this summer. Over 500,000 users have pre-ordered service.
