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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the Indonesian Merah Putih satellite from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018.
Is a SpaceX rocket ready for a three-peat?
The Falcon 9 booster that blasted off from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday, Aug. 7, and landed on a ship minutes later, could become the company’s first to launch a third orbital mission â€" possibly before the end of this year.
Until now, SpaceX has retired rockets after two launches. But Tuesday̢۪s launch of an Indonesian communications satellite was the first to re -fly an upgraded Falcon 9, known as Block 5, that is designed to launch 10 or more times.
So far, the booster appears up to the task.
The 230-foot Falcon 9 lifted off for the first time back on May 11, lifting Bangladesh̢۪s first communications satellite to orbit from Kennedy Space Center.
More: Download 321 LAUNCH app for a one-of-its-kind launch experience
Less than three months later, at 1:18 a.m. Tuesday, the same first-stage booster fired nine Merlin engines to roar into darkness from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station̢۪s Launch Complex 40 with 1.7 million pounds of thrust.
Eight minutes into the flight, the booster swooped down from space to its second tail-first landing on legs on the deck of SpaceX’s modified barge, the “Of Course I Still Love You,†stationed 400 miles down range in the Atlantic Ocean.
Photos: SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral with Merah Putih FullscreenPosted!
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Buy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40 with the Merah Putih communications satellite on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40 with the Merah Putih communications satellite on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rocket is carrying an Indonesian communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The roc ket is carrying an Indonesian communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rocket is carrying an Indonesian communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rocket is carrying an Indonesian communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rocket is carrying an Indonesian communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket l ifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rocket is carrying an Indonesian communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rocket is carrying an Indonesian communications satellite. FullscreenReplay- 1 of 9
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The upper-stage continued into orbit, firing an engine twice before releasing the roughly 12,800-pound “Merah Putih†satellite 32 minutes after liftoff.
The launch was SpaceX̢۪s 15th of the year, just three shy of last year̢۪s total, and the 60th overall by a Falcon 9 rocket since its debut in 2010.
With the intr oduction of the upgraded Falcon 9 and its successful re-flight, SpaceX begins in earnest its drive to transition reusable rockets from an experimental project into something more routine, like aircraft operations.
If successful, that innovation over time promises to lower the cost of launches that SpaceX now advertises online for $62 million. CEO Elon Musk ultimately hopes to make it economical for an even bigger rocket â€" the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR â€" to transport human settlers to Mars.
More: SpaceX to build 'BFR' Mars rocket in L.A.
More: Elon Musk: SpaceX BFR can colonize Mars and build a moon base â€" in 7 years
More: Blue Origin's New Shepard launches, lands in Texas test flight
Another company, Blue Origin, backed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, has launched and landed its smaller, suborbital New Shepard booster up to five times. The company also plans to reuse larger New Glenn rock ets to be built in a new factory at KSC's Exploration Park, possibly launching by 2020.
SpaceX's latest Falcon 9 booster should return to Port Canaveral within three or four days, and will then undergo inspections to determine its fitness for a third launch.
[NASA announces Boeing, SpaceX astronaut assignments]
[SpaceX set to re-fly first Falcon 9 Block 5 on next launch from Cape Canaveral]
Photos: First SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 launch from KSC FullscreenPosted!
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Buy Photo The first SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket launches the Bangabandhu-1 communications satellite from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39A on May 11, 2018. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Pad 39A Kennedy Space Center Friday, May 11, 2018. The rocket is carrying a communications satellite for Bangladesh. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. Fullscreen A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo People on the Cocoa Beach Pier watch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo Katharina Wahlmueller, Thomas Mitterlehner and and Mario Buchmayer, all from Austria, watch the rocket make its way down range. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Pad 39A Kennedy Space Center Friday, May 11, 2018. The rocket is carrying a communications satellite for Bangladesh. FullscreenBuy Photo Alfonso Rodriguez, Maytel Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez watch the launch in Cocoa Beach. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo People on the Cocoa Beach Pier watch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, May 11, 2018 with a Bangladeshi communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo People on the Cocoa Beach Pier watch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5. FullscreenBuy Photo The SpaceX launch as seen from north of Melbourne. FullscreenBuy Photo The SpaceX launch as seen from north of Melbourne. FullscreenReplay- 1 of 20
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Tuesday̢۪s launch delivered a much-needed satellite to orbit for PT Telkom Indonesia, that country̢۪s largest telecommunications and network provider.
Formerly designated Telkom-4, the satellite renamed Merah Putih â€" representing the Indonesian flag’s red and white colors â€" will replace the Telkom-1 spacecraft launched in 1999. After 18 years of service, beyond it design life, Telkom-1 suffered a fuel leak a year ago and began to break apart in orbit, disrupting services.
Flying 22,300 miles over the equator, in an orbital slot at 108 degrees East longitude, the new satellite, built by California-based SSL, will improve phone and internet service to the more than 17,000 islands of the Indonesian archipelago, as well as India and other parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia.
“Satellite plays a vital role in our telecommunications infrastructure,†said Zulhelfi Abidin, Telkom's chief technology officer.
SpaceX is aiming for another commercial satellite launch from the Cape later this month â€" potentially its fourth launch in as many weeks.
For now, the Eastern Range will prepare for a second launch in just over four days. A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is readying to launch NASA̢۪s $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe mission to study the sun, targeting a 3:48 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, liftoff from Launch Complex 37.
Contact Dean at 321-917-4534
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CLOSENASA announce s the astronauts selected to fly on Boeing and SpaceX spacecraft at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Friday, Aug. 3, 2018.
Photos: SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral with Telstar 19V FullscreenPosted!
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Buy Photo The early Sunday morning launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Telstar 19v communications satellite launched from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 1:50 a.m. An approximate three minute time exposure of the launch illuminating the sky over Port Canaveral viewed from Exploration Tower. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday morning, July 22, 2018. The rocket is carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday morning, July 22, 2018. The rocket is carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket leaves smoke rings in its exhaust after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday morning, July 22, 2018. The rocket is carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket leaves smoke rings in its exhaust after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday morning, July 22, 2018. The rocket is carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday mor ning, July 22, 2018. The rocket is carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday morning, July 22, 2018. The rocket is carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo The early Sunday morning launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Telstar 19v communications satellite launched from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 1:50 a.m. A one minute time exposure of the launch illuminating the sky over Port Canaveral viewed from Exploration Tower. FullscreenBuy Photo The early Sunday morning launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Telstar 19v communications satellite launched from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 1:50 a.m. The rocket illuminated the night sky lighting up the Banana River and Port Canaveral as seen from Expolration Tower at the port. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is readied for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Saturday, July 21, 2018. The rocket is carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is readied for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Saturday, July 21, 2018. The rocket is carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite. FullscreenBuy Photo A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is readied for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Saturday, July 21, 2018. The rocket is carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications s atellite. FullscreenReplay- 1 of 12
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SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, July 22, 2018 and successfully delivered the Telstar 19V satellite to orbit.
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