Journalists For Space

SpaceX successfully delivers Japanese communication satellite into orbit.

By  Jonathan Stroud
JournalistsForSpace.com

On Saturday, Aug. 14 at 1:26AM ET SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket delivered JCSAT-16, a Japanese communication satellite operated by JSAT Corporation, into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). Due to the high-altitude requirements of the satellite, the Falcon 9 was required to land on the drone ship, “Of Course I Still Love You.”

The Japanese satellite was sent into an elliptical orbit by the rocket, 20,000 miles above Earth’s surface. The task required large amounts of fuel and speed from the Falcon 9 in order to reach its destination.  According to SpaceX, the high orbit delivery subjected the rocket to “extreme velocities and re-entry heating during its descent back to Earth, leaving less fuel for the rocket to perform landing maneuvers.”

The Falcon 9 separated from the cargo within 3 minutes after take off, and finished its descent in just a under 10 minutes.

Check out pictures from the launch below:

*Photograph credits: Space X

Interested in more SpaceX statistics from the launch? Check out a minute-by-minute recap of the launch by Clicking Here.

Want to see more pictures from the launch? Check out SpaceX’s Flickr by Clicking Here.

Watch a replay of the “live” broadcast of the Falcon 9 launch below!