 |
|
 |
|
SES-10 (Falcon 9) 30 March 2017 |
Space Launch Complex 39A Kennedy Space Center |
Page One of Three |
|
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 6:27 p.m. on 30 March 2017 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center carrying the SES-10 communications satellite into orbit. SES-10 is SES’s first satellite designed exclusively to serve Latin America. Pursuant to an agreement with the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru), SES-10 will provide coverage across Latin America ranging from the Gulf of California in Mexico to Cape Horn in Chile. SES-10 is the first geostationary commercial satellite to ever launch on a flight-proven first-stage rocket booster for the world’s first reflight of an orbital class rocket. Falcon 9’s first stage for the SES-10 mission previously flew on the CRS-8 mission in April 2016 (View CRS-8 launch photos and return to Port Canaveral). Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage successfully landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship stationed a few hundreds miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. |
|
 |
|
| The nearby Vehicle Assembly Building and the mobile launch tower under construction for the Space Launch System rocket nearby at left were ready photo opportunities. | |
 |
|
| A close-up of the bottom of the mobile launch tower shows a flag and banners hanging from it. One with a very optimistic message. | |
 |
|
A NASA helicopter buzzed around the area. |
|
 |
|
The person in the helicopter's open doorway has the best seat for the occasion. |
|
 |
|
| A 180-degree panorama shows the guests waiting for the launch by relaxing on the grass or in the bleachers behind the Apollo Saturn V Center and along the Banana Creek Viewing Area at Kennedy Space Center. | |
 |
|
| A wide angle view of Launch Complex 39A where the Falcon 9 rocket and its SES-10 payload are coyly hidden behind the gantry tower. | |
 |
|
| Periodic venting occurred during fueling as liquid oxygen and RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) are loaded aboard the Falcon 9. | |
 |
|
Ignition of the nine Merlin first stage engines can just be seen as a yellow spot at the base of the tower. |
|
 |
|
Liftoff! The first stage and its nine Merlin engines are all flying for the second time. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
The Falcon 9 clears the tower. Click to go to Page Two for the rest of the launch photos > > > |
|
All contents copyright Lunar Cabin |
|