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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the Optus-X telecommunications satellite from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 17, 2024. | Image credit: SpaceX via X
SpaceX launched a satellite for Australian telecommunications company Optus from Florida’s Space Coast on Sunday evening (November 17).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Optus
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth as planned about nine minutes after liftoff and landed vertically on SpaceX’s A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
A black and white SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off into the darkening evening sky.
According to a SpaceX mission description, it was the 16th launch and landing of this particular launch vehicle. Nine of those flights were dedicated to building SpaceX’s Starlink mega-constellation in low Earth orbit (LEO).
However, Optus-X was not on its way to LEO; The Falcon 9’s upper stage was tasked with propelling it into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The satellite will then find its own way into geostationary orbit, which is 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth.
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Sunday’s launch was the start of a very busy three-day stretch for SpaceX. Elon Musk’s company plans to launch two missions on Monday (November 18) – a Starlink mission and an Indian telecommunications satellite – and the sixth test flight of its mega rocket Starship on Tuesday (November 19).
Editor’s note: This story was updated on November 17 at 9:55 p.m. ET with news of the successful launch and landing of the rocket.
