— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 23, 2024 Landing the first-stage booster in this way allows SpaceX to operate missions at a much lower cost than if it had to build a new one for every flight. A higher launch frequency is also made possible. The company has built numerous Falcon 9 boosters that have flown multiple times over the years. Tuesday’s mission was the ninth flight for this particular booster, which previously launched Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER, USSF-124, and five other Starlink missions. The current flight record held by a single SpaceX rocket belongs to Booster 1062, which earlier this month launched and landed for a record 20th time. SpaceX achieved its first booster landing in 2015 after suffering a number of mishaps where the vehicle landed too hard or fell over after touching down. The team reached 200 landings last June, and with SpaceX steadily increasing its launch rate, the 400th landing is likely to come around even more quickly.