SpaceX launches pair of commercial satellites from Cape
The launch was the 16th successful mission in as many tries by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket since it debuted in 2010.
CAPE CANAVERAL – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off late Sunday with a first-of-its-kind pair of communications satellites for two international companies.
The 224-foot rocket lifted off on time at 10:50 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40, lighting up a foggy sky as it rumbled eastward over the Atlantic Ocean.
Within 35 minutes, SpaceX confirmed the rocket had successfully deployed the satellites owned by Bermuda-headquartered Asia Broadcast Satellite, or ABS, and Paris-based Eutelsat.
"Both satellites deployed on target," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter. "Now firing their ion thrusters to reach geo station over Europe & Asia."
Built by Boeing, the spacecraft are the first that will use entirely electric propulsion to reach and maintain their orbits 22,300 miles above the equator, known as geosynchronous or "Geo" orbits.
The spacecraft generate thrust by firing pulses of charged particles rather than burning a liquid chemical propellant like hydrazine.
The xenon-ion propulsion system called XIPS, or "zips," generates more than 11,000 invisible beams of positive xenon ions, ejected at nearly 63,000 mph.
Satellites have used electric propulsion for years but not exclusively. Eliminating the need to carry a tank full of traditional fuel reduces the satellites' weight significantly, enabling two to be launched on a single rocket.
Boeing said that results in mission savings of up to 20 percent.
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However, the lighter thrust means it will take longer for the satellites to settle into their final orbits and begin service -- eight months in Eutelsat's case.
ABS-3A will be positioned at 3 degrees west of the Greenwich meridian, and is ABS' seventh operational satellite. Eutelsat 115 West B will be stationed at 115 degrees West and become the 35th satellite in that company's fleet.
Both spacecraft will provide broadcast and broadband services, to customers ranging from Africa to the Americas.
The launch was the 16th successful mission in as many tries by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket since it debuted in 2010.
The same type of rocket also launches cargo to the International Space Station and is expected to launch astronauts there within a few years.
SpaceX could launch another communications satellite from Cape Canaveral within a few weeks.
Because of the high orbits in which those spacecraft operate, the Falcon 9 could not spare enough fuel for SpaceX to try landing and recovering the rocket's first-stage booster on Sunday, as it has for some recent missions.
Musk said the next attempt to land a booster on a ship in the Atlantic was planned two missions from now, possibly next month.
Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean