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SpaceX sends communications satellite skyward in late-night launch from Cape Canaveral

Rocket successfully launched at 10:59 p.m. Friday

SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX late Friday acted on a 1.5-hour window to put a communications satellite in orbit with a Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral.

The Inmarsat-6 F2 mission — conducted on behalf of London-based communications satellite operator Inmarsat — took off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:59 p.m. Friday.

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Weather conditions on launch day were given a 65% chance of being favorable, as launch weather officers on Thursday morning said a cold front expected at the Cape by Friday evening could have brought along scattered showers.

B1077 — the booster to be used in the mission — will be making its third-ever flight and was expected to land upright on the “Just Read the Instructions” autonomous drone ship.

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The Inmarsat F2 satellite heading to orbit is a sixth-generation geostationary communications unit constructed by Airbus, according to Next Spaceflight.


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