The universe finally stopped conspiring against the launch of an Italian Earth-observation satellite.
A two-stage SpaceX Falcon9 rocket topped with the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Monday (Jan. 31) at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT).
SpaceX initially aimed to launch the mission on Thursday (Jan. 27), but bad weather forced the company to stand down for three days in a row. Mother Nature finally cooperated on Sunday (Jan. 30), but a cruise ship wandered into the “no-go zone” downrange of Cape Canaveral, forcing yet another scrub.
Everything worked out on Monday, however. The Falcon 9 launched on time, and its first stage came down for a soft landing at Cape Canaveral just under eight minutes after liftoff. The second stage, meanwhile, continued powering CSG-2 to orbit, eventually deploying the satellite as planned 60 minutes after launch.
The booster landing was the 104th that SpaceX has pulled off to date during an orbital mission, SpaceX production manager Jessie Anderson said during the webcast of Monday’s launch. This particular first stage had flown twice before, as a side booster on SpaceX’s massive Falcon Heavy rocket. Today’s mission marked the first time that a Heavy side booster had been reconfigured and launched alone as a Falcon 9, Anderson said.
Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency