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A photo of the Telstar 18 VANTAGE (18 V) aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. On Monday morning, the space company launched the Falcon 9 and sent Telstar 18 VANTAGE into orbit amid threats of bad weather. ( SpaceX | Youtube )
After more than an hour late, the SpaceX Falcon 9 was successfully launched on the morning of Monday, September 10, carrying the Telstar 18 VANTAGE satellite into orbit.
The rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida in the middle of heavy clouds and rain caused by hurricane Florence, which is now unleashed in the Atlantic Ocean.
A few minutes later, the first floor of Falcon 9 landed on a ship called "Of course, I still love you" to be reused in future missions.
Telstar 18 launched into orbit
Telstar 18 VANTAGE is a telecommunications satellite of the Canadian company Telesat. It is one of the heaviest communications satellites ever launched into orbit at 15,564 pounds. Its twin, the Telstar 19 satellite launched in July, currently holds the record of 15,600 pounds (7,076 kilograms).
This massive satellite will cover the Asia-Pacific region from the geostationary orbit about 22,000 miles (about 36,000 kilometers) above the equator. It will transmit broadband communications services to Southeast Asia, Mongolia, Australia and New Zealand.
"Telstar 18 VANTAGE is a high-end, highly flexible, state-of-the-art satellite that will provide a significant competitive advantage to customers meeting the demanding requirements of enterprise, public and broadcast users in Asia," said Dan Goldberg. , president and CEO of Telesat, in a statement to the press. "We are delighted to be making this important contribution to our global satellite fleet and, furthermore, pleased to continue our long and successful relationship with APSTAR, a leading Asian operator with whom we have been closely cooperating for more than ten years."
After deployment (32 minutes after take-off), the Telstar 18 VANTAGE sits in circular geostationary orbit over the equator using its hydrazine engine and electric thrusters. It will eventually reposition itself in the Asia-Pacific region in the coming weeks.
The new satellite will replace the Telstar 18 satellite launched into orbit in 2004. It is expected to be operational for 15 years, SpaceX said in its press release.
Another successful landing
The Telstar 18 VANTAGE mission uses the new Block 5 Falcon 9, the final iteration of the rocket according to founder Elon Musk.
The launch on Monday morning marks the first successful launch of SpaceX for over a month and its 60th anniversary since its launch in 2010. The commercial rocket company hopes to be able to restart the same rocket within 24 hours.
The next SpaceX launch is scheduled for October 7 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to launch the SAOCOM 1A Earth Observation Satellite in Argentina.
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