SpaceX notches 300th Falcon rocket booster landing after Tuesday liftoff from Cape Canaveral

Rick Neale, Florida Today
Updated ·2 min read
2

Like a fiery dart approaching a bullseye, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster descended vertically toward its circular target zone atop the SpaceX drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Stage one landing leg deployed," a SpaceX crew member announced during the company webcast.

About four seconds later, the rocket stage touched down on the drone ship — marking SpaceX's 300th Falcon booster landing.

The booster's noteworthy return to terra firma made Tuesday's Starlink 6-53 one for the history books after a 6:17 p.m. EDT liftoff from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket deployed 23 more broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit.

Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule for SpaceX, ULA, NASA in Florida

SpaceX officials postponed the mission's initial Monday night launch window while facing a windy, cloudy weather forecast. By contrast, the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron pegged Tuesday's odds of "go for launch" weather at greater than 95%.

Tuesday's landmark Falcon 9 booster had previously launched Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER, USSF-124 and five Starlink missions. Crews targeted the drone ship landing 8 minutes and 31 seconds after liftoff.

Looking ahead, SpaceX is targeting back-to-back rocket launch attempts Saturday and Sunday from the Space Coast, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational warnings indicate.

SpaceX has yet to announce these missions. But Saturday night, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket may launch Galileo satellites for the European Space Agency's global navigation system between 8:29 p.m. and 9:11 p.m.

Then Sunday, another Starlink launch window will open from 5:50 p.m. to 10:21 p.m.

Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with another batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites. The launch was at 6:17 p.m EDT Tuesday, April 23.
Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with another batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites. The launch was at 6:17 p.m EDT Tuesday, April 23.

For updates on both missions and the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX nails 300th Falcon booster landing with Tuesday Starlink mission

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