SpaceX sets record launching Falcon 9 first-stage booster 24 times

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- SpaceX set a record for the most launches by a first-stage booster Wednesday morning when one of its Falcon 9 rockets lifted a new round of Starlink satellites into space.

The Cape Canaveral Space Force Staton launch at 5:13 a.m., EDT from Florida was the 24th time the first stage was used. The booster landed safely on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas roughly nine minutes after takeoff.

It marked the 88th booster landing on the A Shortfall of Gravitas and the 378th safe booster landing for SpaceX overall.

SpaceX said the reusability of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket for reflight allows it to use some of the most expensive parts of the rocket over numerous flights while dramatically shortening turnaround times between flights.

The Wednesday morning liftoff was part of what SpaceX hopes is the first of twin launches. The commercial space company plans a West Coast launch of Starlink satellites Wednesday night from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base.

A third launch, which will send a SirirusXM-9 satellite into space, is set for Thursday morning from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.