SpaceX launches communications satellite using Falcon 9 rocket

CBS News · December 17, 2019 · 9:21 · English · Launch

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Video from the channel CBS News about Falcon 9, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 9:21. Language: English. Video type: Launch.

The mission

This is SpaceX's live broadcast, picked up by CBS News, of a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral carrying the JCSAT-18/Kacific-1 communications satellite. The satellite will provide mobile and broadband services across Asia-Pacific, and the rocket places it into a geostationary transfer orbit.

Sequence

After liftoff, the rocket passes through maximum aerodynamic pressure. The first stage's nine engines then shut down, the stages separate, and the second stage's vacuum Merlin ignites. The payload fairing then separates, which SpaceX attempts to recover with its vessels. The first stage reorients, fires three Merlins for the reentry burn, and is guided by its grid fins. Finally, it fires the center engine for landing and deploys its legs on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You, about 350 nautical miles off the coast of Florida.

Outcome

The first stage landed without issue, in what SpaceX described as its 47th successful recovery. The second stage reached a parking orbit, where it was to wait about 20 minutes for its second burn. The broadcast ended there.