Video credit: SpaceX
Watch a replay of the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral shortly after midnight Monday with the SES 12 communications satellite.
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket took off at 12:45 a.m. EDT (0445 GMT) Monday from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, and headed east over the Atlantic Ocean.
About 32 minutes later, the Falcon 9’s upper stage deployed the Airbus-built SES 12 telecom payload into a “supersynchronous” transfer orbit stretching more than 36,000 miles (58,000 kilometers) above Earth. The satellite’s on-board electric propulsion system will maneuver the craft into a circular geostationary orbit around 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) over the equator in the next few months.
Read our full story for details on the mission.
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