SpaceX Falcon 9 Flies for 13th Time, Setting New Reuse Record
Summary: On June 17, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Kennedy Space Center on its record-setting 13th flight, carrying 53 Starlink satellites into orbit.
On June 17, 2026, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, deploying 53 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The highlight of this mission was the booster itself: having already completed 12 prior launches and recoveries, this particular first stage flew for the 13th time, setting a new reuse record for the Falcon 9 vehicle.
Falcon 9 remains the only orbital-class rocket in the world that routinely recovers and reflies its first stage. Since the first booster reflight in 2017, SpaceX has steadily pushed the upper limit of how many times a single booster can fly. Thirteen flights mean this particular stage has endured over 12 cycles of thermal protection and structural loading through launch, landing, refurbishment, and re-flight — yielding critical engineering data for pushing reuse counts even higher in the future.
The 53 Starlink satellites on this mission were successfully deployed to their target orbits, further expanding SpaceX's low-Earth-orbit megaconstellation. The Starlink program now serves broadband internet access across dozens of countries and regions, bringing connectivity to underserved areas worldwide.