A Falcon 9 rocket, delayed several times due to unfavorable weather, blasted off early Sunday from Vandenberg Space Force Base as a key component made its 18th flight.

The SpaceX rocket lifted off at 12:59 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base to deliver 22 Starlink satellites as the second mission of 2024 from the West Coast.

The first-stage booster for Sunday’s mission from Vandenberg now has flown 18 times from both Florida and California, carrying a variety of payloads, including eight missions for Starlink. 

SpaceX’s Elon Musk said the company hopes to certify the first-stage boosters for up to 40 flights, expanding the number of times they can be reused.

During an all-hands meeting recently, Musk recapped the company’s achievements in 2023 and looked into 2024 and beyond.

“What you have achieved over the past year is nothing short of incredible,” Musk said.

Last year, Falcon rockets flew a total of 96 missions from both Vandenberg and the Florida launch sites.

“With Falcon, we have achieved the most launches of a rocket in a single year ever,” Musk said, adding that the next best was the former Soviet Union’s Soyuz rocket, which had launched more than 60 in a year. 

Two-thirds of last year’s mission involved SpaceX’s Starlink, with the others serving a variety of U.S. military, NASA, commercial and foreign customers.

The company is aiming to complete 150 flights in 2024, he said, adding that crews have achieved a launchpad turnaround in 3 days, with a goal of trimming the time between liftoffs from one site to less than 24 hours

Over eight years, SpaceX has conducted 260 landings, and Musk reflected on the skeptics who had doubted the plan.

“Reusability is the key to a great future in space,” Musk said. “It’s essential. We need reusability with rockets just like we have reusability for cars, for airplanes, for bicycles, for horses. 

“Obviously. reusability is essential and the fundamental invention that is necessary for humanity to become a multi-planet species is basically rapidly reusable reliable rockets,” he added.

Another first-stage booster that had completed 19 missions carrying 860 satellites in more than three years won’t reach 20 after meeting its demise following a Florida launch last month.

SpaceX blamed high winds and waves as the reason the booster toppled over on the droneship before returning to port. 

The firm also regularly recovers the two halves of the payload fairings, or nose cones, and reused them 300 times, he said. 

The booster and fairing recovery efforts mean SpaceX boasts a fleet of vessels, or what Musk called a small navy.

He also discussed future plans for the Starlink, which saw the first six satellites with direct-to-cell capability traveling to space from Vandenberg earlier this year.

SpaceX revealed it recently proved the technology sending a text via Starlink. 

The firm has partnered with several wireless phone providers around the world, including T-Mobile in the United States, for Starlink service, which will supplement, not replace, the telecommunication companies. 

Starlink provides internet access in locations where it’s not available or reliable, supplementing the land-based systems.

“You can learn almost anything if you’ve got an internet connection.… Starlink is a game changer for improving people’s quality of life around the world,” he said. 

Later this year, SpaceX expects to release its miniature version of a Starlink kit, which can fit in a backpack, making the system more portable for users.