SpaceX launched a communications satellite and landed a rocket on a ship at sea early Saturday (Oct. 15), simply hours after bringing 4 astronauts house from the Worldwide House Station.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13F satellite lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday at 1:22 a.m. EDT (0522 GMT), on the very finish of the mission’s practically two-hour window.
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth just below 9 minutes after launch, touchdown on SpaceX’s Simply Learn the Directions droneship, which was stationed within the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.
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It was the third launch and touchdown for this specific first stage, based on a SpaceX mission description (opens in new tab). The booster additionally helped launch SpaceX’s CRS-24 cargo mission to the International Space Station in December 2021 and one batch of the corporate’s Starlink web satellites.
The Falcon 9’s higher stage, in the meantime, continued carrying Hotbird 13F to orbit. The satellite — which was constructed by Airbus Protection and House and can be operated by France-based Eutelsat — was deployed on schedule about 36 minutes after liftoff.
Hotbird 13F is certain for geostationary orbit, about 22,300 miles (35,900 kilometers) above Earth. The spacecraft and its twin, Hotbird G, are slated to interchange three different Hotbird spacecraft, which at the moment present 1,000 tv channels to greater than 160 million houses in Europe, North Africa and the Center East, according to Eutelsat (opens in new tab). Hotbird G may also trip a Falcon 9 to orbit, maybe as early as subsequent month.
Saturday morning’s liftoff got here lower than 9 hours after SpaceX’s Crew-4 astronaut mission for NASA returned to Earth from the space station. Crew-4’s Dragon capsule, named Freedom, splashed down off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday (Oct. 14) at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT).
Editor’s word: This story was up to date at 2:15 a.m. EDT on Oct. 15 with information of profitable launch, rocket touchdown and satellite deployment.
Mike Wall is the creator of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a e book in regards to the seek for alien life. Observe him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
