A SpaceX Falcon 9 first-stage booster made history on Sunday night by launching and landing for a record-tying 22nd time. The booster, designated B1061, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying the Space Norway Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM). The launch, which was live-streamed by SpaceX on social media, saw the booster perfectly land on the ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean approximately eight minutes after liftoff. This marked another successful demonstration of SpaceX’s reusable launch system, which aims to reduce launch costs and increase access to space.
B1061 has a rich history, having previously launched missions like Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, Korea 425, Maxar 1, and 10 Starlink missions. It is now tied with B1062, which achieved its 22nd launch and landing in June. The booster’s most recent flight before Sunday’s mission deployed a batch of Starlink satellites on June 8, while its inaugural launch took place in November 2020 when it carried SpaceX’s Crew-1 astronauts to the International Space Station in the Crew Dragon spacecraft’s first operational mission.
B1061 holds another distinction: it is the first booster to launch from all of SpaceX’s different launch sites and return to all of its operational drone ships and landing zones (with the exception of the rarely used LZ-2 at Cape Canaveral in Florida). This remarkable feat showcases the versatility and reliability of SpaceX’s reusable launch system.
The system’s ability to perform an upright landing of the 41.2-meter-tall booster at the launch site or on a platform in the ocean enables easy recovery and refurbishment, further reducing launch costs and allowing for faster turnaround times. By making space access more affordable, SpaceX’s reusable launch system opens up new possibilities for companies and organizations interested in deploying satellites in orbit.
