SpaceX: 9,000-pound satellite was launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida
Monday night, a 9,000-pound satellite was put into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that took off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
About eight minutes after launch, the first stage of the reusable rocket landed back on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. This was SpaceX’s 170th time recovering an orbital-class rocket.
The first stage booster on Monday’s Falcon 9 mission had been used before in three Stalink launches, the SES-22 mission, and ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1.
About 36 minutes after launch, Hispasat’s Amazonas Nexus satellite was put into orbit.
The Spanish company said that the satellite will cover “the whole American continent, Greenland, and the North and South Atlantic corridors, and will be focused on connectivity services in remote areas and in air and maritime mobility environments.”
SpaceX works with private companies like Hispasat to send cargo into space. It also does missions for the U.S. Space Force and other government agencies.
The company’s main rocket that can be used more than once is the Falcon 9, which was used on Monday. The Falcon Heavy is used to send up heavier payloads. It is basically three Falcon 9s strapped together.
