— SpaceX Starlink satellites had to make 25,000 collision-avoidance maneuvers in just 6 months — and it will only get worse The Falcon 9 first stage that flew Sunday night last launched in December 2022. Among its 15 previous flights are Demo-2, SpaceX's first-ever crewed mission, which sent two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station in 2020. The booster is not a reuse outlier; another Falcon 9 first stage has 15 flights under its belt, and a few others have launched 14 times. Starship will take reflight to another level, if all goes according to plan. The giant vehicle, the most powerful rocket ever built, is designed to be fully reusable. And both of its stages will be capable of flying multiple times in a single day, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has said. Editor's note: This story was updated at 1 a.m. ET on July 9 with the new launch time of 8:36 p.m. EDT. The original launch target was July 9 at 4:36 a.m. EDT. It was updated again at 9 p.m. ET on July 9 with the new launch time of 11:58 p.m. EDT. It was updated again at 12:25 a.m. ET on July 10 with news of successful launch and rocket landing. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.