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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket already in flight has completed another launch and landing mission.
The two-story Falcon 9 took off at 3:46 pm EST (20:46 GMT) today (15 November) Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. About 32 minutes later, the rocket successfully deployed its payload, the Es-hail-2 communications satellite, into an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit.
The first stage of the rocket was already back on Earth at that time, standing on the deck of the SpaceX drone "Of course I still love you", which was parked in the Atlantic Ocean, off from the Florida coast. The booster landed on the robotic ship about 8.5 minutes after take-off. [See the Evolution of SpaceX Rockets in Pictures]
The landing was the second of this first leg, which also helped launch the Telstar 19 Vantage communications satellite on July 22. "Of course, I still love you" also served as a landing platform that day.
SpaceX has now made 31 first-phase landings and boosters landed in reflown on 17 occasions. These activities are part of SpaceX's plan to dramatically reduce the cost of spaceflight, thereby making Mars colonization and other economically ambitious explorations possible.
Indeed, the founder and CEO of the company, Elon Musk, has repeatedly stated that he founded SpaceX in 2002, primarily with the goal of making humanity a multi-species species.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the Es & # 39; hail-2 communications satellite on November 15, 2018 from Pad 39A, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX has not attempted to recover the fairing of the payload – the cone of protection that surrounds the spacecraft at launch – today, as its boat equipped with a net, M Steven is on the west coast. (Mr. Steven has repeatedly tried to snatch fairings in free fall, but he has remained empty until now.)
The Es & # 39; hail-2 satellite was built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and will be operated by Qatar-based Es'hailSat.
Es-hail-2 "has a multi-repeater Ka-band capability, providing private and government-owned secure communications in the Middle East and North Africa region," they said. SpaceX representatives wrote in a press kit for the mission.
The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sits on the drone deck "Of course, I still love you" after launching the Es-hail-2 satellite on November 15, 2018.
Credit: SpaceX
"The multi-mission architecture of the spacecraft will enable Es & # 39; hailSat to meet the demand for the fastest-growing applications in the Middle East and North Africa, including content transfer, broadcast distribution, corporate communications and government services, "they added.
The launch today was the first leg of a planned triple flight of space flights that will run until Saturday morning (17 November). Russia plans to launch a robotic Progress spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) on a cargo mission tomorrow afternoon (16 November), and Northrop Grumman of the United States will launch its own unmanned supply vessel Cygnus before the next day. dawn Saturday.
You can watch these two takeoffs here on Space.com when the time comes.
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate) is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally published on Space.com.
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