On Tuesday night, SpaceX successfully launched another batch of the company’s internet-from-space Starlink satellites to orbit, using a very space-hardened Falcon 9 rocket for the job. This launch marked the rocket’s seventh flight to space and back — the first time SpaceX has flown such a seasoned vehicle to orbit.
The Falcon 9 took off at 9:13PM ET from SpaceX’s launch site at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, with 60 Starlink satellites in tow. After a quick trip to space, the first stage of the Falcon 9 — the bulk of the vehicle that contains the main engines and most of the fuel — separated from the rest of the rocket and came back to Earth. It then performed one of SpaceX’s signature rocket landings, touching down on…