SpaceX launches 64 satellites at once

WASHINGTON, Dec 05 (AFP): SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket on Monday, sending an unusual payload into space - 64 satellites at the same time, a US record.

And the company headed by US tech billionaire Elon Musk marked another milestone in its bid to make rockets more re-usable, like airplanes: the blast-off used a recycled booster for the third time.

California-based SpaceX has landed more than 30 of these boosters back on Earth, and has begun re-using them on subsequent missions.

In the past, companies have typically allowed rocket parts costing many millions of dollars to fall like junk into the ocean.

Monday's landing of the first stage was flawless, like many before it.

Several minutes after liftoff, the tall, white portion of the rocket -known formally as the first stage - separated from the second stage.