Starlink launch sends Falcon 9 rocket booster on 18th flight. Next: Tuesday launch to ISS

A much-traveled SpaceX Falcon 9 first-stage booster notched its 18th flight during a Sunday night Starlink launch from windy Kennedy Space Center.

The rocket booster successfully landed aboard SpaceX's drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean after the 8:10 p.m. EST liftoff from pad 39A at KSC.

For posterity's sake, this booster has now launched GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301, OneWeb Launch 17, ARABSAT BADR-8 and 11 Starlink missions, SpaceX reported.

Next up, SpaceX remains on track to launch a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft carrying more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, equipment and science investigations Tuesday to the International Space Station.

Also powered by a Falcon 9, the NG-20 NASA resupply mission's lunchtime liftoff time is 12:07 p.m. Tuesday from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The window is instantaneous.

Space Memorial Mirror: Fallen astronauts honored during NASA Day of Remembrance event at KSC Visitor Complex

Sunday's Starlink 6-38 mission lifted another payload of 23 internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit, adding to SpaceX's ever-increasing constellation.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY .

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Starlink 6-38 mission launches Falcon 9 booster on 18th flight