“Well…it’s Monday…again, and SpaceX launched 29 Starlink satellites to Low-Earth Orbit on another routine Falcon 9 flight this afternoon.” You can almost hear Bill Murray saying that in the role of newsman Phil Connors in the movie “Groundhog Day.” SpaceX launches that often on the Space Coast, and today, the company launched another Starlink mission, and Booster B0167 successfully completed its 32nd flight.
Liftoff occurred at 5:26 p.m. EST (2226 UTC) from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, and into mostly leaden, overcast skies that were just starting to clear after a cold front passed through the Space Coast region in the past couple of days.
The flight was nominal, and at T+8:23s Booster B1067 touched down aboard ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’, stationed in the Atlantic east of The Bahamas. Fifteen seconds later, the second stage of Falcon 9 reached SECO, or Second Stage Engine Cut-Off, and was in its initial orbit.
The Clubhouse Leader With 32 Flights
Booster B1067.32 remains the all-time leader for SpaceX boosters, having earned its soot on the CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, SES O3B mPOWER-A, PSN SATRIA, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, Galileo L13, Koreasat-6A, and now 21 Starlink missions.
That’s quite a resumé, and on SpaceX must certainly be proud of. Now aboard ‘Just Read The Instructions’, it will return to Port Canaveral, where it will be offloaded, transported to HangarX at Kennedy Space Center and ostensibly prepared for its next flight.
Fleet Leaders by Flight Count
| Rank | Booster | Flights | Notable Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B1067 | 32 flights | Current record holder • Guinness World Record • First to reach 30 flights |
| 2 | B1071 | 30 flights | Most spacecraft to orbit: 1,001 • Vandenberg workhorse • 5 NRO missions |
| 3 | B1063 | 29 flights | Oldest surviving booster in fleet • First flight Nov 2020 • Launched NASA DART |
| 4 | B1069 | 28 flights | Most mass to orbit: 401,140 kg • Carried FIFA World Cup balls to space |
| 5 | B1077 | 25 flights | Flew Crew-5, GPS III SV06, CRS-28 • Active Cape Canaveral booster |
So, in short, another Monday and another record set here on the Eastern Range. Those things are becoming routine.
Launch Replay
Next Launch
Next Launch: Falcon 9 Block 5 | NROL-77
Go for Launch • Cape Canaveral SFS • SLC-40
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Mission | NROL-77 (Classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office) |
| Organization | SpaceX |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 |
| Launch Site | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
| Pad | Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) |
| Window Opens | Tuesday, 12/09/2025 2:16:25 PM (ET) |
| Window Closes | Tuesday, 12/09/2025 2:16:25 PM (ET) |
| Destination | Unknown (not publicly disclosed) |
| Status Info | Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources. |
| Mission Description | Classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. |
| Countdown | — |
Author: Charles Boyer
NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.
Leave a Reply