Rockets were no longer single-use machines.
SpaceX achieved its 100th consecutive successful Falcon 9 flight, with booster B1063 completing its second mission and landing on drone ship 'Just Read the Instructions.' The Starlink megaconstellation now exceeds 1,737 satellites in orbit, with over 500,000 users pre-registered for beta service ahead of full commercial rollout later in 2021.
- SpaceX's 100th consecutive successful Falcon 9 flight since 2015 failure
- Booster B1063 completed its second mission; 1,737 Starlink satellites now in orbit
- All 16 SpaceX launches in 2021 used previously-flown rockets; over 500,000 users pre-registered for Starlink beta service
SpaceX launched its 16th mission of 2021, deploying 60 Starlink satellites and achieving its second successful drone ship landing, advancing the company's broadband megaconstellation expansion.
On a clear afternoon at Cape Canaveral, a Falcon 9 rocket that had already flown once before lifted off at 2:59 p.m. on May 26, carrying sixty Starlink satellites toward orbit. Nine minutes later, its first stage descended through the Florida sky and touched down on a drone ship named "Just Read the Instructions," completing what had become routine for SpaceX but remained remarkable to everyone watching: a successful landing at sea.
This was the company's sixteenth launch of the year, and it marked something larger than a single mission. The booster, designated B1063, was one of SpaceX's newer additions to its fleet of reusable rockets. It had first flown in November 2020 carrying an ocean-mapping satellite for NASA and the European Space Agency. Now, six months later, it was back in service, proving that the company's strategy of flying the same rockets over and over was working. Every single SpaceX launch in 2021 had used a previously-flown booster. In April, the company had even launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on a reused rocket—a first for human spaceflight.
The Starlink satellites themselves represented the core of SpaceX's ambition to blanket Earth with broadband internet. The company had already placed 1,737 of these flat-paneled satellites in orbit, surpassing its initial target of 1,440. More than 500,000 people had already signed up for the service during its beta phase, and the company expected to open it fully to the public later that year. The satellites were designed to reach people in remote and rural areas with little or no internet access, though the service would eventually be available globally. For SpaceX, Starlink was more than a communications venture—it was meant to fund the company's deeper ambitions, particularly its Starship program for eventual Mars missions.
What made Wednesday's launch part of a larger story was the milestone it represented. This was SpaceX's 100th consecutive successful Falcon 9 flight. The streak had begun in 2015, after a launch failure that destroyed a Dragon cargo capsule bound for the space station. Since then, the company had not lost a single mission. NASA and the U.S. Space Force had taken notice, granting SpaceX approval to fly their payloads on reused rockets—a vote of confidence that would have seemed impossible just a few years earlier.
The booster B1063 was part of a larger evolution in SpaceX's capabilities. In 2018, the company had introduced the Block 5 version of the Falcon 9, adding upgrades specifically designed for reusability: a more robust heat shield, titanium grid fins, and more powerful engines. When Elon Musk announced the Block 5, he said the company expected each rocket to fly ten times with minimal refurbishment between flights, and potentially as many as a hundred times before retirement. Another booster, B1051, had already reached ten flights and was still flying. Musk made clear that ten was not a ceiling but a waypoint—as SpaceX refined its refurbishment process, it would keep pushing each rocket to its limits.
The rapid reusability strategy had transformed SpaceX's launch cadence. In the four weeks leading up to May 26, the company had launched Starlink batches four times. June promised to be busier still, with a space station resupply mission scheduled for June 3. This pace was only possible because SpaceX had a fleet of flight-proven boosters ready to fly. The company typically reserved its newest boosters for paying customers and used its most-flown rockets for its own missions, allowing engineers to test each booster to its breaking point.
The weather had cooperated on launch day—forecasters predicted a 90 percent chance of favorable conditions, and the sky delivered. As the Falcon 9 thundered upward, it carried not just sixty satellites but evidence of a fundamental shift in how spaceflight worked. Rockets were no longer single-use machines. They were tools to be maintained, refurbished, and flown again. The drone ship caught the booster, the satellites reached orbit, and SpaceX's constellation grew. By the end of the day, the company had also recovered both halves of the payload fairing—the clamshell-like covers that protect the satellites during launch. One half had now completed five missions; the other, three. Both were expected to fly again soon. The machinery of space exploration was becoming, for the first time, genuinely reusable.
Notable Quotes
What a beautiful day for rocket launch here. The Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying our stack of 60 Starlink satellites to orbit.— SpaceX engineer Youmei Zhou, during live webcast
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that this booster had already flown before?
Because for decades, rockets were thrown away after one use. SpaceX proved you could land them, refurbish them, and fly them again. That changes the economics of space entirely—you're not building a new rocket every time, you're maintaining one.
But isn't this just about saving money?
It's about speed and scale. SpaceX launched sixteen times in the first five months of 2021, all on reused rockets. That cadence is only possible if you have a fleet ready to go. For Starlink, they need to put thousands of satellites in orbit. You can't do that if you're building new rockets for each launch.
What's the significance of the 100 consecutive successful flights?
It's a trust marker. After a catastrophic failure in 2015, SpaceX had to rebuild confidence. Now NASA and the Space Force are willing to put their payloads—and their astronauts—on previously-flown boosters. That's not just a technical achievement; it's institutional validation.
Why is Starlink worth all this effort?
On the surface, it's internet for remote areas. But for SpaceX, it's the revenue stream that funds Starship and Mars ambitions. Musk has said Starlink is the way to make deep space exploration economically viable. The satellite constellation pays for the rockets that go further.
Is there a limit to how many times a rocket can fly?
Musk said ten times with minimal work, maybe a hundred before retirement. But one booster has already hit ten and is still flying. The real limit is how much you're willing to refurbish it. As the process gets better, the limit keeps moving.
What happens to the satellites once they're in orbit?
They beam internet down to ground terminals. Sixty satellites is one batch of a constellation that will eventually number in the thousands. Each one has a limited lifespan—maybe five to seven years—so SpaceX will keep launching new batches to maintain coverage.