KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — SpaceX sent up the first of two launches for Saturday night: a telecommunications satellite from Eutelsat Communications.
What You Need To Know
- This is the first of two Florida launches for Saturday night
- The launch will take place at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/sxq3fRzjeo
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 30, 2024
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket left from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The 3-hour, 58-minute-launch window opened at 5:52 p.m. ET, SpaceX confirmed.
The weather looked good for the launch, as the 45th Weather Squadron gave about a 95% chance of good liftoff conditions. The only worry was the thick cloud layers rule.
If the launch was pushed back, the next chance would have been Sunday, March 31.
This was the Sunshine State’s first of two launches for Saturday. The second Florida SpaceX launch is later the same evening as it will launch another batch of Starlink satellites. And it is actually a triple launch day for SpaceX, because it has another Starlink launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Going up
Called B1076, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster has 11 missions under its belt and all successful.
- CRS-26
- OneWeb Flight 16
- Intelsat IS-40e
- Starlink Group 6-1 mission
- Starlink Group 6-3 mission
- Starlink Group 6-6 mission
- Starlink Group 6-14 mission
- Starlink Group 6-21 mission
- SES O3B-mPOWER
- Ovzon-3
- Starlink Group 6-40 mission
After the stage separation, the rocket’s booster landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions that is stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
30 on the 30th! Falcon 9 lands on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, completing our 30th launch and landing of the year and 325th successful Falcon launch overall pic.twitter.com/gEidCsrv2w
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 30, 2024
About the mission
SpaceX will send up the Eutelsat 36D satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Eutelsat is a telecommunications company based in Paris, France, and provides television, internet and mobile communication services over most of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
The company is having SpaceX launch the Eutelsat 36D, an all-electric satellite. The satellite will deliver more than 1,100 TV stations to millions of homes, stated Eutelsat.
It also has another mission.
“EUTELSAT 36D has also been selected by Airbus Defence and Space to carry its latest Ultra
High Frequency (UHF) payload to support communications over the (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region,” stated the company.
The company Airbus Defence and Space built the Eutelsat 36D satellite.
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