SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has successfully launched the 7.5t Intelsat 35e commercial communications satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on its third attempt.
The Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 5 July at 7:38pm EDT.
The satellite was deployed into the orbit 32mins after lift-off.
SpaceX stated that after the delivery of Intelsat 35 broadcasting satellite into GTO, the customer has confirmed signal acquisition.
GTO is an area of nearly 22,000 miles above Earth where satellites orbit in-line with the planet’s rotation.
On Sunday, the launch was aborted due to a software error found during a final check of the vehicle's navigation and control instrumentation, reported Spaceflightnow.com.
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By GlobalDataAfter the issue was rectified, there was another attempt to send the Intelsat 35 into orbit on Monday.
Due to weather issue at the Florida spaceport, the launch time was delayed from the initial 7:37pm EDT to 8:35pm. However, the countdown stopped at T-minus 10s and as there was no time left in the launch window, computers aborted the lift-off.
SpaceX initally planned the launch on 4 July, but later postponed the date to 5 or 6 July as it wanted to conduct a full review of rocket and launch pad systems.
The company will now send a supply mission to the International Space Station next month.
