The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set another record, achieving 18 reuses.

CTOnews.com, November 7, 08:37 (Beijing time) on November 4, 2023, a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX lifted off from launch pad 40 of Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, sending 23 star chain satellites into low earth orbit. This is the 18th flight of the rocket, setting a reuse record for the Falcon 9 rocket.

CTOnews.com noted that the rocket, numbered B1058, was a historic rocket that sent NASA astronauts Bob and Doug to the International Space Station on its first flight in May 2020. It was the first time that American astronauts had returned to the space station on a U.S.-made rocket since NASA retired the space shuttle in 2011.

After this historic launch, B1058 carried out 13 star chain missions (including some carrying other satellites), two transport missions, one dedicated communications satellite mission, and one replenishment mission to the International Space Station. A total of 844 satellites were put into orbit.

In the latest launch, after completing its mission, B1058 successfully landed on the offshore landing platform "insufficient gravity" and returned to the port of Canaveral, ready for the 19th flight. SpaceX refurbished the rocket from flight 17 to flight 18 in just 45 days, indicating that they have simplified the refurbishment process.