SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket for the seventh record time

SpaceX reused a Falcon 9 rocket for a record-breaking seventh time during its most recent mission to put another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit.

It comes as Elon Musk-owned space launch company is preparing for the first high-altitude test flight of its giant Starship prototype spaceship, dubbed the SN8.

Launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 02:13 GMT this morning, Flight Falcon 9 was the seventh use of that particular first stage booster.

This broke the previous record for a six-trip upgrade and helps Musk in his mission to reduce the cost of launching payloads from Earth by reusing equipment.

SpaceX was able to retrieve the booster from the Atlantic Ocean using a drone flight, which means it may be able to fly for the eighth time in the future.

The booster was not the only part of the Falcon 9 to be reused during this flight, which brings the total of Starlink small Internet satellites to nearly 1,000.

The fairing cover used to protect the payload had also been used previously – half on another trip and another on two different trips prior to this, SpaceX confirmed.

Whenever SpaceX is able to reuse a component, it reduces the cost of bringing material into low Earth orbit compared to using parts for the first time.

Research from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that the average cost to put 1kg of material into orbit on a SpaceX launch is $ 2,600.

By comparison, the average cost to put a 1kg object into orbit from a Russian Soyuz was $ 17,900 and the United Launch Alliance Delta E was $ 177,900 per kg.

Musk is working to further reduce that cost with every element of the Falcon 9 they are able to reuse.

Part of that drive to reuse is driving the development of the massive, fully reusable two-stage in-orbit heavy-duty vehicle.

It has been in development since 2012 and is designed to significantly reduce the cost of each launch by being fully reusable.

A single launch of Falcon 9 costs about $ 51 million if it reuses components that have flown previously – Musk hopes to get the Spaceship launch for $ 2 million per trip.

That reality may soon be a step forward as the company prepares to send the latest Starship SN8 prototype on a high-altitude test flight.

Musk tweeted that he has already successfully passed a static fire test and that in the next week or so he would fly up to about nine miles into the sky.

The edge of space is agreed upon by NASA and others as being 50 miles above sea level, but to enter orbit it must be at least 100 miles above sea level.

If this latest flight test – which will see the triple Raptor engine ignite and lift the spaceship 400 feet into the air – is successful, further higher tests are likely to follow.

November 30 was provisionally set aside as the date of the high altitude test that will see the spacecraft reach the highest altitude ever flown.

Musk tweeted: ‘Good static fire of spaceship SN8! Aiming for the first flight of 15km / ~ 50k ft altitude next week. The objectives are to test the climb of 3 engines, the body flaps, the transition from the main to the head tank and the landing flip. ‘

Landing is one of the most important aspects, as it must be fully reusable to achieve the goals and price per flight set by the SpaceX team.