Despite the pandemic, SpaceX is crushing its annual launch record

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  Birds passing in flight as Cargo Dragon 2 launches on its first mission to the ISS on Sunday. [credit: Trevor Mahlmann ]

On Sunday, a thrice-flown rocket took to the skies for the fourth time, lofting a Dragon spacecraft that will ferry a few tons of cargo toward the International Space Station.

This particular Falcon 9 rocket first stage had only made its first flight on May 30, with the historic launch of NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. Six months later, this booster, numbered B1058, was already making its fourth flight into space. A few minutes after launching, the first stage made a successful landing on a drone ship and will likely fly again early next year.

Sunday's launch was the 24th successful one for SpaceX this year—including 23 orbital flights and a demonstration of Crew Dragon's abort system back in January. And the company is not done, as it may launch two or possibly even three more missions this month. Next up for the Falcon 9 is the launch of a large satellite for Sirius XM to geostationary transfer orbit, possibly as early as Thursday.

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