Falcon 9 • Starlink 6-32
December 23, 2023, at 12:33 a.m. EST
SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches 23 Starlink Gen2 constellation satellites into a low Earth orbit from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40.
The oldest reusable first-stage booster in the SpaceX Falcon fleet, B1058, broke the reusability record for flying and landing for the 19th time.
B1058 first flew in May 2020 for the Demo-2 Crew Dragon mission that brought back human spaceflight to American soil since NASA's space shuttle program ended in 2011. To commemorate its first historic flight, it's the only booster that has a NASA ‘worm’ logo.
2 days after the launch of Starlink 6-32, on Christmas evening, SpaceX announced on Twitter that the booster toppled over and broke due to high winds and waves during its return to Port Canaveral after landing on the autonomous drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ in the Atlantic Ocean.