// SPACE.COM — SPAZIO & SCIENZA
SpaceX will set rocket-reuse record on 100th Falcon 9 launch of the year early Aug. 25: Watch it live
It will be the 37th liftoff for this rocket's first stage.
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Starlink launches may have become commonplace, but this one's definitely worth staying up for.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with 29 Starlink internet satellites is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday (Aug. 25), during a four-hour window that opens at 1:49 a.m. EDT (0549 GMT).
It will be the 100th Falcon 9 flight of 2026 and the record-breaking 37th mission for this rocket's first stage, a booster designated B1067. You can watch the action live via SpaceX, starting about 10 minutes before launch.
The Falcon 9 is by far the busiest rocket in operation today. Last year, it flew 165 missions — more than all of the world's other orbital rockets combined. And all 165 of those flights were fully successful.
Extensive first-stage reuse is the Falcon 9's secret sauce, making it cheaper and more efficient to fly than its competitors. Those competitors are racing to catch up, however, and some are making strides. In the past six weeks, for example, two different Chinese rockets aced landings during orbital missions.
But neither one of those newcomers has made it back to the pad for a second flight. SpaceX, meanwhile, has six Falcon 9 boosters with at least 30 flights under their belts, led by B1067's 36. (The others are B1077 and B1078 with 30, B1069 with 32, B1063 with 34 and B1071 with 35).
And SpaceX plans to take reuse to even higher levels. The company's next-gen megarocket, Starship, is designed to be completely and rapidly reusable, with each vehicle capable of flying multiple times per day, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. (The Falcon 9 and its cousin the Falcon Heavy are only partially reusable; they have expendable upper stages.)
CRS-22 | Crew-3 | Turksat 5B | Crew-4 | CRS-25 | Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G | O3B mPOWER | PSN SATRIA | Telkomsat Marah Putih 2 | Galileo L13 | Koreasat-6A | 25 Starlink missions