Friday, March 4, 2016

SpaceX's Falcon 9 Launches Successfully On Satellite Mission

Hawthorne-based SpaceX successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Friday afternoon, at 6:35 p.m. ET, in the Falcon 9's 22nd mission to space. The mission will deliver a payload for satellite communications operator SES, and its SES-9 satellite. The launch--which was webcast live by SpaceX--is the fourth try to launch the SES-9 to space, after several aborted attempts over the last week. The Falcon-9 is delivering the SES-9 to a geostationary orbit. The SES-9 is going into geostationary orbit over Southeast Asia. SpaceX also was attempting another ocean landing of its first stage, although it was unclear if that attempt was successful during the launch, after video cut out just as the stage was due to land on the SpaceX floating barge. The Falcon-9 successfully separated from its payload, the SES-9 satellite, at 7:09 p.m. ET.

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