SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:15 p.m. EST Thursday (0215 GMT on Jan. 8), Space reported.
According to reports, this is the first launch of more than 40 planned Falcon 9 rocket missions this year from launch pads in Florida and California. If achieved, it would break the 26 Falcon 9 missions record of SpaceX in 2020, and the US launches during the early Space Age.
The newly launched Falcon 9 rocket is carrying the Turksat 5A communications satellite into orbit for Turkey during a planned four-hour window last Thursday. Turkey is planning to expand its presence in space and the Turksat 5A will help them in this mission.
SpaceX's First Launch This Year
The two-stage Falcon 9 shed its first stage booster about two and a half minutes after its takeoff, where it began its descent towards the "Just Read the Instructions" drone ship of SpaceX that is parked around 400 miles (650 kilometers) east of Cape Canaveral in the Atlantic Ocean, Spaceflight Now reported.
Meanwhile, as the first stage booster is busy on its landing on the drone ships, two other SpaceX vessels were on station in downrange waters to collect the two-piece payload shroud of SpaceX.
Just before the Falcon 9 releases the Turksat 5A spacecraft into an elliptical transfer orbit after 33 minutes of the liftoff, the single-use upper stage of the rocket performed two engine burns.
According to Spaceflight Now, the tracking data of the US military shows that the Falcon 9 successfully delivered the Turksat 5A to the orbit "ranging between 177 miles (286 kilometers) and 34,000 miles (55,000 kilometers) in altitude, with an inclination of 17.66 degrees."
The controllers immediately started the health verifications and post-launch checkouts of the Turksat 5A when the ground team confirmed its first radio signals, Turkish officials said.
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Turkey is Expanding its Presence in Space
SpaceX said that they are launching the Turksat 5B later this year. The spacecraft is part of Turkey's effort to expand its presence in space, which was met with several controversies. Some people pressured SpaceX to cancel the flight of Turksat 5A, citing the role of Turkey in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, the attempt was unsuccessful.
The Airbus-built spacecraft is scheduled to beam down broadband coverage using its 42 Ku-based transponders, according to Space. Although it was already launched in orbit, it will take at least four months for the spacecraft to reach its final altitude.
Reports said that Turksat 5A would rely on its solar panel instead of using the traditional fuel to power its onboard plasma thrusters, which are more energy efficient but produce less thrust, making it longer to reach its destination.
Meanwhile, the Turksat 5B is a bit heavier than its predecessor, weighing over 9,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms), and will operate in bit Ku and Ka bands. Airbus said that this would provide more than 50GB per second of capacity, which is expected to enter service later this year.
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