SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket for ANASIS II mission

SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 40 on Monday.

Falcon 9′s first stage landed on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship around 5:40 p.m. on Monday.

SpaceX confirmed the deployment of Anasis-II from Monday’s mission.

Here’s what you need to know about the launch, according to News 6 partner Florida Today.

• Teams had until 9 p.m. to launch.
• Weather was 70% “go” for launch.
• In the event of a delay the launch would have been pushed back until Tuesday
• Onboard the rocket is a South Korean military satellite.
• The mission, known as ANASIS II, or Army / Navy / Air Force / Satellite Information System, is an Airbus-built communications satellite targeting a geostationary orbit about 22,000 miles above Earth.
• It marks the first dedicated national security satellite for South Korea.
• The launch was originally targeted for last week but was then pushed to July 19 due to hardware issues. Over the past weekend, SpaceX delayed the launch again to Monday.
• The rocket’s first-stage booster targeted an automatic landing approximately eight minutes after liftoff on the Just Read The Instructions drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.