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Elon Musk’s SpaceX Matches Launch Record With 18th Mission This Year

Musk's SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Rocket Carrying Qatari Satellite
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SpaceX has matched last year’s total for successful launches, giving Elon Musk’s rocket company weeks to spare to set a new annual record for missions.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at about 3:46 p.m. local time Thursday. The rocket’s first stage, which previously flew in July, re-landed again on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. A Qatari satellite deployed roughly 32 minutes after liftoff.