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Record-setting SpaceX Falcon 9 booster returns to Port Canaveral

Booster launched 60 satellites into orbit, landed at sea, marking fourth mission for this booster

SpaceX's most experienced booster arrived at Port Canaveral on Friday, Nov, 15, 2019. (Image: WKMG)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster returned to Port Canaveral Friday morning following its fourth successful launch earlier this week and will be moved using a new mobile crane.

The booster arrived on the drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You, -- where it landed after launch --around sunrise Friday.

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SpaceX’s now most experienced booster was used to launch 60 Starlink satellites on Monday. It was the first time a booster has flown more than three times.

“These boosters are designed to be used 10 times," SpaceX engineer Lauren Lyons said during the launch broadcast. "Let’s turn it around for a fifth, guys.”

SpaceX launched its second round of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Monday morning. The company plans to deliver almost 12,000 satellites to low-Earth orbit to create a global internet.

The liftoff marked the first time SpaceX re-used a payload fairing-- part of the nosecone of the rocket. Re-using rocket hardware helps drive down the cost of launching.

After the booster arrives at Port Canaveral, a 300-foot-tall mobile harbor crane will be used to move the booster from the droneship.


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