On Saturday, May 27, at 12:30 a.m. ET, SpaceX launched the ARABSAT BADR-8 mission to a geosynchronous transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This was the 14th launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301, OneWeb Launch 17, and seven Starlink missions.
All imagery is courtesy of SpaceX via the firm’s streaming webcast of the BADR-8 launch.
Update 1 posting…
SpaceX is now targeting Friday, May 26, for the Falcon 9’s launch of the ARABSAT BADR-8 mission to GEO from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 127-minute launch window opens at 11:25 p.m. ET (03:25 UTC on May 27).
Original launch info…
SpaceX had targeted Tuesday, May 23, 2023, for their Falcon 9’s launch of the ARABSAT BADR-8 mission to GEO from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Unfortunately, weather became an issue and the launch had to be cancelled.
There is a backup opportunity available on Wednesday, May 24th., within the same time window.
The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301, OneWeb Launch 17, and seven Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which is stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
A live webcast of this mission will start at about 15 minutes prior to liftoff on May 24th.