SpaceX is continuing its impressive streak of reusability with a planned launch on the Space Coast Saturday night, marking the 200th occasion the company has relied on a previously used booster to transport payloads into space.

The mission, known as Starlink 6-18, involves a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink satellites and is scheduled to take off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:07 p.m.

Four additional launch opportunities are available on Saturday night, ranging from 9:57 p.m. to 12:05 a.m. on Sunday. In addition, there are four backup options for Sunday night between 8:41 p.m. and 11:39 p.m.

The first-stage booster, on its 17th flight, is aiming for a successful recovery landing on the droneship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean, equalling a record, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a 95% chance of favorable conditions. In the event of a 24-hour delay, the chances remain high at 90%, declining to 80% across the three-hour launch window.

This marks the 200th reuse of a booster across SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

If the landing is successful, it will mark the 228th successful recovery since the first success in December 2015, with no first-stage losses since February 2021, achieving 153 consecutive successful landings.

This launch, if successful, will be the 266th overall for SpaceX since the first Falcon 9 success in 2008 and the 67th this year across its launch facilities at Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center, and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The reliable Falcon 9 rocket began flying in 2010 and has not experienced a launch failure since 2015.

Written by staff