When SpaceX debuted the Block 5 version of its Falcon 9 rocket in 2018, it expected to fly the reusable boosters 10 times before taking them out of service for major refurbishment. But last summer, the company quietly moved the goalpost."We got to 10 flights and the vehicles were still looking really good, so we started the effort to qualify for 15," Jon Edwards, SpaceX vice president of Falcon launch vehicles and Falcon engineering, told Aviation Week during a series of interviews with top company managers.Meanwhile, the time between Falcon 9 launches continues to shrink, with SpaceX now aiming to fly from One of its three launch sites at least once every five days. On April 29, the company launched a booster that had landed just 21 days earlier, besting its previous turnaround record by six days. This month, the Falcon fleet leader will attempt a 13th flight.The space launch industry is still a long way from airline-like flight operations, but momentum is growing. SpaceX, established in 2002 to fulfill founder, CEO and chief engineer Elon Musk's heady plan to colonize Mars, is not the only space company building reusable hardware, but for now it continues to be the industry juggernaut.
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