Famed SpaceX booster that launched 19 times tips over due to high seas near Port Canaveral

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. — A famed SpaceX booster rocket that successfully launched and landed 19 times has tipped over on its way back to Port Canaveral.

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SpaceX confirmed its Falcon 9 fleet’s “life leading” booster rocket was knocked over while enroute to Port Canaveral early Tuesday morning.

The booster was used Saturday night to send a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Watch: SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 9 rocket Saturday

SpaceX said the single reusable rocket was used to launch 2 astronauts and more than 860 satellites, totaling more than 260 metric tons, into orbit over the last 3 and a half years.

SpaceX said newer Falcon 9 boosters have upgraded landing legs that can self-level to help prevent them from being lost or damaged while returning from the Atlantic Ocean on one of their autonomous droneships.

Watch: SpaceX’s Crew-6 astronauts return safely to Earth after splashdown off Florida’s coast

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