SpaceX’s Booster that Could, B1067

The Falcon 9 booster, named B1067, is the current flight leader for SpaceX’s reusable first stages. Launched for the 33rd time on February 21st at 10:47pm from SLC-40 CCSFS, it released the 2nd stage which went on to deploy 28 Starlinks into orbit. Shortly after, it landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) in the Atlantic ocean.

Initially SpaceX thought that Falcon 9 first stages would only be reusable up to 10 times, but as flight cadence increased it became apparent that the boosters could go above and beyond. Engineers continuously sought to recertify flight-proven boosters for more and more launches. Currently aiming for a total of 40 flights.

B1067 specifically has set the pace. Flying CRS-22, Crew-3, Crew-4, CRS-25, 7 bespoke satellite missions (9 satellites total), and 22 Starlink missions (632 Starlinks total), making it the most productive mankind has ever designed. This is a testament to SpaceX engineering prowess and the technicians that sustain flight hardware on the ground. Congrats to SpaceX on (another) successful flight.