SpaceX, Musk's aerospace company,
successfully launched another batch of
Starlink satellites. This launch involved a
Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 satellites, which
are part of SpaceX's mission to provide
satellite-based internet connectivity to
underserved areas.
SpaceX - Falcon 9 / SES-10 Mission patch. March 31, 2017
Falcon 9 carrying SES-10 satellite launch
SpaceX took a step into the future Thursday as it reused – for the first time – a recovered first stage of a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket. Thursday’s mission, carrying the SES-10 communications satellite, lifted off from Pad 39A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Thursday 30 March at 18:27 local time (22:27 UTC) and once again landed the booster.
Falcon 9 launch of SES-10
Thursday’s mission made use Falcon 9 the second orbit-capable rocket – after the Space Shuttle – to achieve partial reusability. The Falcon 9 flew from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the same pad from which the Shuttle began eighty-two of its missions, including its first and final flights. Reusability has long been a key objective for SpaceX. Making the company’s first launch in March 2006, the small Falcon 1 vehicle carried a parachute system intended to bring its spent first stage back to Earth.
Falcon 9 first stage landed on drone barge
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket deliver SES-10, a commercial communications satellite for SES, to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). SES is a world-leading satellite operator, providing reliable and secure satellite communications solutions across the globe.
SES-10 satellite
The SES-10 mission mark a historic milestone on the road to full and rapid reusability as the world’s first reflight of an orbital class rocket. Falcon 9’s first stage for the SES-10 mission previously supported the successful CRS-8 mission in April 2016. For more information about SpaceX, visit: http://www.spacex.com/ Images, Video, Text, Credits: SpaceX/SES. Greetings, Orbiter.ch Full article
It made it!
Thank you SpaceX. You just gave us the keys to our dreams. So much is now possible…
(Image credit: SpaceX SES-10 stream)