The launch of Telkomsat’s Merah Putih 2 satellite came more than five years after the company’s last launch aboard a SpaceX rocket. Liftoff occurred at the opening of a two-hour window at 3:11 p.m. EST (2011 UTC).
The mission represents the fifth pair of Boeing-built O3b mPOWER satellites to launch into medium Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday, July 22, at 5:12 p.m. EDT (2112 UTC).
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday evening, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the SES 9 television broadcast satellite into orbit 31 minutes later.