SpaceX launched a communications satellite tv for pc and landed a rocket on a ship at sea early Saturday (Oct. 15), simply hours after bringing 4 astronauts residence from the International Space Station.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13F satellite tv for pc lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday at 1:22 a.m. EDT (0522 GMT), at the very finish of the mission’s almost two-hour window.
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth slightly below 9 minutes after launch, touchdown on SpaceX’s Just Read the Instructions 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 explicit first stage, in line with 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 tv for pc — which was constructed by Airbus Defense and Space and might be operated by France-based Eutelsat — was deployed on schedule about 36 minutes after liftoff.
Hotbird 13F is sure for geostationary orbit, about 22,300 miles (35,900 kilometers) above Earth. The spacecraft and its twin, Hotbird G, are slated to switch three different Hotbird spacecraft, which at present present 1,000 tv channels to greater than 160 million properties in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, according to Eutelsat (opens in new tab). Hotbird G will even experience 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 area 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 notice: This story was up to date at 2:15 a.m. EDT on Oct. 15 with information of profitable launch, rocket touchdown and satellite tv for pc deployment.
Mike Wall is the writer of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a guide concerning the seek for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
