The SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying THAICOM 8 shortly after liftoff. Photo from video
Hawthorne-based SpaceX successfully launched — and landed — another Falcon 9 rocket on Friday afternoon, boosting the THAICOM 8 communications satellite into orbit.
SpaceX’s live video showed workers in the factory cheering as the rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, FL, at 2:39 p.m. and passed each of the flight benchmarks on its way to orbit.
Minutes later the first stage landed on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean, marking the company’s fourth successful landing attempt. The rocket will be refurbished and reused.
The satellite, built by Orbital ATK, and will provide communications coverage for South Asia and Southeast Asia.
SpaceX plans 17 launches this year, nearly three times the six launches in 2015.
The Falcon 9 first stage shortly after landing on the barge. Courtesy SpaceX Twitter
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