SpaceX launches Hotbird 13G telecom satellite, lands rocket at sea

November 3, 2022

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SpaceX launched a telecom satellite to orbit and landed a rocket on a ship at sea early Thursday (Nov. 3).

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13G satellite lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday at 1:22 a.m. EDT (0522 GMT).

The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth rather less than 9 minutes later, touching down as deliberate on SpaceX’s Simply Learn the Directions droneship, which was stationed within the Atlantic Ocean.

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Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13G satellite deploys from the higher stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Nov. 3, 2022. (Picture credit score: SpaceX)

It was the seventh launch and touchdown for this specific first stage.

“The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission beforehand launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, and one Starlink mission,” SpaceX wrote in a prelaunch mission description (opens in new tab). (Crew-3 and Crew-4 have been astronaut missions to the International Space Station, and CRS-22 and CRS-25 have been uncrewed cargo flights to the orbiting lab.)

Hotbird 13G, in the meantime, stored flying atop the Falcon 9’s higher stage, which deployed the satellite into geosynchronous switch orbit proper on schedule, about 36 minutes after liftoff.

Hotbird 13G was constructed by Airbus Protection and Area and shall be operated by the France-based telecom firm Eutelsat. The satellite will finally arrange store in geostationary orbit, about 22,300 miles (35,900 kilometers) above our planet.

Hotbird 13G will be part of its twin, Hotbird 13F, which launched to that patch of cosmic actual property aboard a Falcon 9 final month. The 2 spacecraft will change three current Hotbird satellites, taking over fairly a little bit of accountability.

The Hotbird satellite household “kinds one of many largest broadcasting methods in Europe, delivering 1,000 tv channels to greater than 160 million TV houses in Europe, North Africa and the Center East,” Eutelsat representatives wrote (opens in new tab).

The Hotbird 13G launch was the second that SpaceX performed from Florida’s Area Coast over a roughly two-day span. On Tuesday (Nov. 1), Elon Musk’s firm launched the USSF-44 mission for the U.S. Area Drive from NASA’s Kennedy Area Middle.

USSF-44 employed a Falcon Heavy rocket, essentially the most highly effective launcher flying at present. The mission was simply the fourth ever for the Falcon Heavy and its first since June 2019.

Editor’s observe: This story was up to date at 2 a.m. EDT on Nov. 3 with information of profitable launch, rocket touchdown and satellite deploy.

Mike Wall is the writer of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a ebook in regards to the seek for alien life. Comply with him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).