As SpaceX continues its steady march of Starlink internet satellite launches, the company reaches... //

The seventh flight of Starlink satellites is set to launch Wednesday, 22 April at 15:30 EDT (19:30 UTC) from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center.

The U.S.’s most flown, active rocket:

This flight marks a major point in U.S. launch operations, as Falcon 9 reaches 84 flights to its name and officially takes the mantle from Atlas V as the most flown, currently operational U.S. rocket.

Atlas V began flying on 21 August 2002 and has 83 flights to its name after 18 years — for an annual rate of 4.6 launches.

Falcon 9 began flying on 4 June 2010 and will reach 84 flights in just under 10 years with a flight rate of 8.4 launches per year. //

The changing of the guard — so to speak — is made all the more impressive by the fact that in its first three years, Falcon 9 only flew five times.

By June 2015, the rocket had 19 flights to its name — 14 flights in two years compared to 5 flights in the first three years.

In the second five years of operation, Falcon 9 amassed an impressive 65 flights (counting the seventh flight of Starlink on Wednesday) — an average of 13 missions a year. //

Moreover, the impressive rise of Falcon 9 occurred while SpaceX actively redesigned — in some cases, radically — the rocket through numerous changes, culminating more or less in the Block 5 design flying today.

Meanwhile, the company implemented reusability with the Falcon 9 to a scale that sent U.S. and global competitors scrambling to design lower-cost and/or reusable rocket systems. //

With the seventh flight of Starlink on Wednesday, SpaceX will make its 92nd orbital launch attempt.

At this rate, the company will likely achieve its 100th orbital launch attempt in the summer or autumn months this year.