SpaceX has launched a satellite weighing around six metric tons to a geostationary transfer orbit, its 50th Falcon 9 launch.
At 12.33am local time, the Falcon 9 launched the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite successfully from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Falcon 9 flight 50 launches tonight, carrying Hispasat for Spain. At 6 metric tons and almost the size of a city bus, it will be the largest geostationary satellite we’ve ever flown.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2018
Falcon 9 and Hispasat 30W-6 are vertical on Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Weather is 90% favorable for the two-hour launch window, which opens at 12:33 a.m. EST, 5:33 UTC. https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z pic.twitter.com/cF49rWUTRw
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 5, 2018
After the launch, SpaceX said it was the third largest geostationary satellite it has flown to date.
Liftoff!
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 6, 2018
The Hispasat 30W-6 will serve as a replacement for the Hispasat 30W-4, providing television, broadband, corporate networks and other telecommunications solutions.
Very proud of the SpaceX team! Can’t believe it’s been fifty Falcon 9 launches already. Just ten years ago, we couldn’t even reach orbit with little Falcon 1.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2018
Hispasat distributes and broadcasts Spanish and Portuguese content among other things, and this satellite in particular is expected to have a useful life of 15 years.
For those keen on watching the launch in full, SpaceX provided the video below.
