At 8:00 AM Beijing time on August 25, SpaceX successfully launched a satellite into orbit and managed to bring the booster back to Earth. During the launch, the company sent Taiwan's Formosat-5 Earth observation satellite into its designated orbit.
The image below shows the moment of the launch.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with a launch window lasting 44 minutes. A few minutes after takeoff, the second stage of the rocket separated, placing a 1,050-pound (approximately 476-kilogram) Formosat-5 satellite into orbit.
Over the next five years, Formosat-5 will primarily be used to capture high-resolution images of Earth. The satellite is also equipped with a plasma sensor that enables observations of the Earth's ionosphere and space weather conditions.
Following the completion of the primary mission, the second stage of the rocket successfully returned to a remote-controlled ship in the Pacific Ocean. This ship, named "Just Read the Instructions," is a nod to the fictional spacecraft in Ian M. Banks' science fiction novels.
This marks the 40th flight of the Falcon 9 rocket, with SpaceX having successfully completed its 12th launch of 2017. With this landing, SpaceX has now achieved 15 successful booster recoveries, moving closer to its goal of reusable rockets.
Initially, Spaceflight had planned to send 89 small satellites into orbit alongside the Formosat-5 satellite. However, due to uncertainty regarding the launch time, this plan had to be canceled a few months ago. Spaceflight will instead attempt to place these small satellites into orbit during future launch missions.
The next Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for September 7, with plans to carry the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane into orbit. This will mark the first time the X-37B is launched using a Falcon 9 rocket, as opposed to the previous launches with the Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance.
SpaceX continues to push the boundaries of innovation in space exploration, making strides towards more sustainable and cost-effective space travel.
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