Thursday, March 8, 2018

SpaceX Launches its Biggest Geostationary Satellite on Landmark 50th Falcon 9 Rocket at Midnight: Photo/Video Gallery

The 50th  SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL with the Hispasat 30W-6 telecomsat for spanish operator Hispasat at 12:33 a.m. EST on March 6, 2018.  The 6 ton satellite was delivered to geostationary transfer orbit. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   7 Mar 2018

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – SpaceX launched its biggest geostationary satellite ever on the landmark 50th mission for the firms Falcon 9 rocket with a magnificent midnight blastoff for Hispasat from the Florida Space Coast on March 6.

The milestone 50th SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully lifted off at 12:33 a.m. EST (533 GMT, 633 Spanish time) from seaside Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, with the city bus sized 6 ton Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite.

The crystal clear overnight skies offered a beautiful blastoff experience that delighted nightowl skywatchers and space enthusiasts alike as they tracked the rockets path for more than five minutes.
50th SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL at 12:33 a.m. EST on March 6, 2018 carrying the 6 ton Hispasat 30W-6 telecomsat for spanish operator Hispasat to geostationary transfer orbit. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

Check out our launch gallery of photos and videos gathered here from myself and space journalist photographers and friends.

Blastoff of SpaceX Falcon 9 and Hispasat 30W-6 telecomsat from Cape Canaveral pad 40 on March 6, 2018.  Credit: Julian Leek



Look back again as the gallery grows.

The 50th SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL with the Hispasat 30W-6 telecomsat for spanish operator Hispasat at 12:33 a.m. EST on March 6, 2018.  The 6 ton satellite was delivered to geostationary transfer orbit. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com


Hispasat 30W-6 will provide high definition TV, voice, and high speed internet broadband connectivity to Spanish and Portuguese speaking regions across Europe, the Americas and North Africa.
Watch this compilation of launch video collected from video cameras ringing pad 40 at Florida’s spaceport:





Video Caption: UP-CLOSE 50th Falcon 9 Launches Hispasat 30W-6 on March 6, 2018.  Credit: Jeff Seibert

The two stage 229-foot-tall (70-meter-tall) SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket delivered HispaSat 30W-6 to a geosynchronous transfer orbit for HISPASAT – which is “comprised of companies that have a presence in Spain as well as in Latin America, where its Brazilian affiliate HISPAMAR is based.”

HISPASAT is a world leader in the distribution and broadcasting of Spanish and Portuguese content, and its satellite fleet is used by important direct-to-home television (DTH) and high-definition television (HDTV) digital platforms, according to a company description.

The 50th SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL with the Hispasat 30W-6 telecomsat for spanish operator Hispasat at 12:33 a.m. EST on March 6, 2018.  The 6 ton satellite was delivered to geostationary transfer orbit. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

After reaching its initial orbit it will be moved to its final orbital position, 30º West, where it will replace and broaden the capacity of Hispasat 30W-4.

The Hispasat 30W-6 telecomsat was manufactured by Space Systems Loral in Palo Alto (California) and involved the significant participation of the Spanish aerospace industry.”

The 6 metric ton satellite is the size of a city bus.

Hispasat 30W-6 is equipped with 40 Ku-band transponders, 6 Ka-band beams and 10 C-band transponders.



50th SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks to orbit after launching from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL at 12:33 a.m. EST on March 6, 2018, carrying the Hispasat 30W-6 telecomsat for spanish operator Hispasat.  Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

This SpaceX Falcon 9 launch concluded  a back to back double header of launches in the span of just over 4 days!

This past Thursday, March 1, ULA opened the month with the stunning dinnertime liftoff of the 20 story tall Atlas V rocket carrying the 5.5 ton GOES-S next generation weather observatory to geosynchronous orbit for NOAA and NASA. Read out stories.

The next launch from Florida is tentatively slated for April 2 and involves a Falcon 9 launching a recycled Dragon cargo vehicle to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA.

50th SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL at 12:33 a.m. EST on March 6, 2018 carrying the 6 ton Hispasat 30W-6 telecomsat for spanish operator Hispasat to geostationary transfer orbit. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com



Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer - ken at kenkremer.com


Falcon 9 carrying Hispasat 30W-6 telecomsat stands poised for launch from Cape Canaveral pad 40 on March 6, 2018.  Credit: Julian Leek















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