CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX successfully sent a Turkish satellite into orbit late Saturday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, lighting up the skies over Florida.
The launch marked the second SpaceX liftoff of the day.
A Falcon 9 rocket carried the Turksat 5B communications satellite into space at 10:58 p.m., the start of the mission’s 90-minute launch window, and deployed the satellite soon afterward.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/wpL0quwHj7
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 19, 2021
The Turksat B satellite is expected to provide broadband coverage to Turkey and to portions of the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
About 9 minutes after launch, the Falcon 9’s first-stage rocket landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/CDTVuHOBty
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 19, 2021
Earlier in the day, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 52 Starlink satellites into space from coastal Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Those satellites are part of the satellite-based global internet system that SpaceX has been building for years to bring internet access to underserved areas of the world.
The booster that delivered the Turksat B satellite into space was making its third launch and landing after previously supporting the launch of CRS-22 and Crew 3.