Stuff That’s Hard to Do (Falcon9 Starlink)

Another nice night launch from the Cape

Watch Falcon 9 launch 22 @Starlink satellites to orbit https://t.co/uYPWv2UrAx

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 30, 2023

leelu says:

September 30, 2023 at 8:14 am

I’m wondering if Elon will pull boosters at 20 launches to refurbish, or if he’ll keep flying them some more.

20 is a nice round number, and vehicle/cargo losses would be expensive.
- Blake says:
  
  September 30, 2023 at 8:04 pm
  
  I thought boosters were inspected and refurbished as needed after each successful landing.
  
  Though, to your point, I would think boosters have an EOL beyond which they’re not used any more.
leelu says:

October 1, 2023 at 10:48 am

Blake,

IIRC, the boosters were originally designed/expected to be good for ten launch cycles before what I think of as a major overhaul before being returned to duty.

I don’t remember hearing anything about an end of life number of cycles.

And of course they are inspected and repaired as needed after each cycle.