Astronomy / Space SpaceX - Bangabandhu Satellite-1 & first flight of the Falcon 9 Block 5

[AndyJ]

Another successful step forward for SpaceX, and a milestone for Bangladesh earlier today with the deployment of their first geostationary communications satellite .

SpaceX successfully launched the Bangabandhu Satellite-1 on Friday, May 11 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Liftoff occurred at 4:14 p.m. EDT and Bangabandhu Satellite-1 was deployed into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) approximately 33 minutes after launch.

The Bangabandhu Satellite-1 mission served as the first flight of Falcon 9 Block 5, the final substantial upgrade to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Falcon 9 Block 5 is designed to be capable of 10 or more flights with very limited refurbishment as SpaceX continues to strive for rapid reusability and extremely high reliability. Following stage separation, SpaceX successfully landed Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

This was also the 25th successful recovery of a Falcon 9 first stage.

Here's a replay of the launch webcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQEqKZ7CJlk&feature=youtu.be&t=297

More info about the mission in the press kit: http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/bangabandhupresskit51118.pdf
Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/spacex

 

[Thargon]

This is exciting. Especially, the BFR. When that starts going, we truely have entered the era of space exploration. Next, orbital infrastructure and manufacturing, and then we will spread throughout the solar system and beyond!