A new class of Boeing-built spacecraft will fly into orbit for the first time Sunday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, combining Boeing’s electric propulsion technology with SpaceX’s bargain launch prices to send up communications satellites at a fraction of the typical cost.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off for its sixth flight of the year Monday from launch pad 39A in Florida, lofting an Inmarsat mobile broadband communications satellite to an orbit more than 40,000 miles above Earth.
Crews outside the SpaceX’s headquarters in California on Saturday positioned the booster that stuck the first Falcon 9 rocket landing for vertical display, and now the launcher is an unmistakable Space Age trophy visible to passersby on nearby streets and freeways.