SpaceX lands the same rocket for the fifth time [Updated]

Enlarge / With an updated camera and Internet connection, Just Read the Instructions showed better video of the landing. (credit: SpaceX)

9:50pm ET Update: Right on schedule, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Wednesday evening from Florida. Several minutes later, the first stage came roaring back to Earth, and for the first time, the same rocket landed for the fifth time. The view from the Just Read the Instructions drone ship, with a better camera and Internet connection, was quite good. The rocket descending at night lit the ocean a bright blue before touching down.

Meanwhile, the second stage pushed onward into orbit, deploying its payload of 60 Starlink satellites. SpaceX has now launched nine rockets this year.

Original post: A mere four days after its historic launch of NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station, SpaceX is preparing for another launch of its Falcon 9 rocket.

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