A SpaceX Falcon 9 took off and landed 32 times after a successful mission on Monday evening – a record.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster – listed as B1067 – lifted off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:26 p.m. ET.
Shortly after launching 29 Starlink internet satellites into low Earth orbit, the Falcon 9 first stage returned to Earth and landed perfectly on Earth Just read the instructions Drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Florida.
Here are some shots of the rocket’s record-breaking 32nd launch and landing.
The workhorse booster made its first flight in June 2021 and last flew on October 19, 2025.
Previously, CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, SES O3B mPOWER-A, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, Galileo L13, Koreasat-6A and 20 Starlink missions were launched.
SpaceX has a growing number of boosters that perform multiple flights. The reusability system is at the heart of the space company’s strategy, allowing it to dramatically reduce launch costs compared to traditional rockets that can only be used once.
Based on lessons learned from the Falcon 9 landings, SpaceX has also managed to land the first stage of its much larger and more powerful Starship rocket, although in this case a pair of giant mechanical arms secure the launcher just above the ground.
Only Blue Origin has repeated SpaceX’s feat, landing an orbital-class rocket upright minutes after launch. The US company, founded just last month by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has successfully landed the first stage of its New Glenn rocket after a failed attempt earlier this year.
Others want to join the elite club, but getting the technology right is a challenge. China’s LandSpace, for example, recently attempted to land the first stage of its Zhuque-3 reusable rocket, but the launch vehicle exploded on return instead of touching down safely.
