A SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster Launches Record-tying 20th Mission: Galileo L12

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying European Commission's Galileo(FOC FM 25 and FM27) satellites, lifted off at 0034 UTC (April 28) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. This Galileo L12 mission marks a record-tying 20th flight for this particular rocket's reusable first stage(B1060-20), according to SpaceX mission description. Earlier this month, a different Falcon 9 booster set the record with a launch of the company's Starlink internet satellites.

"Due to the additional performance required to deliver the payload to medium Earth orbit, this mission marks the 20th and final launch for this Falcon 9 first stage booster," SpaceX wrote X. "The last time a first stage was expended during a Falcon 9 mission was 146 flights ago in November 2022. On most Falcon 9 missions, enough propellant remains in the first stage after stage separation to enable landing, recovery, and ultimately reuse on future missions. We’re working toward qualifying our fleet of Falcon boosters and fairings to support 40 missions each. Increasing Falcon's flight count provides valuable information on repeated reuse, a critical element for making life multiplanetary with Starship."

The Falcon 9 stage that was first to have 20 launches under its belt, landed safely after its record flight on April 12. Starlink satellites deploy to low Earth orbit(LEO); so the booster had enough fuel left over to return to Earth, unlike during April 28's Galileo L12 mission, which saw a launch to medium earth orbit(MEO), 23,222 kilometers away from our planet.

Galileo L12 mission added 2 spacecraft to the Galileo constellation, Europe's equivalent of the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS). Twenty-eight Galileo satellites have launched to date.

Previous Galileo satellites all launched atop Russian-built Soyuz rockets or Europe's Ariane 5 which retired last summer.

Following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Europe cut most of its space cooperation ties with Russia. Late last year, the European Space Agency inked a deal with SpaceX to deploy up to four Galileo satellites over two launches in 2024. April 28's mission was presumably the first of the two.

WATCH the launch of Galileo L12 mission.