Video: SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 rocket flight lifts off from Cape Canaveral

Credit: SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched shortly after midnight Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with Hispasat 30W-6, a communications satellite heading for a position more than 22,000 miles over the equator to serve markets in Europe, North Africa and the Americas.

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket took off at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 GMT) Tuesday from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad and delivered its commercial telecom payload into a geostationary transfer orbit 33 minutes later.

Tuesday’s launch marked the 50th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, and the fourth Falcon 9 flight of 2018. SpaceX has also logged one launch of the powerful triple-body Falcon Heavy rocket this year, bringing the company’s tally for 2018 to five missions.

Read our Mission Status Center for details on the flight.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.