CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — While the launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday night, SpaceX had to push it back nearly two hours but in the end, the company successfully launched the Hotbird 13G early Thursday morning.

What You Need To Know

The famed Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch a European telecommunications company’s satellite from Space Launch Complex-40 in Cape Canaveral at 11:26 p.m. EDT, but it was pushed back to 1:22 a.m. EDT, Thursday, due to SpaceX having to complete pre-flight checkouts it tweeted.

The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 90% chance of good launch weather as the satellites were taken into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

The rocket’s first-stage booster has an impressive background, having completed such missions as the CRS 22 and 25, Crews 3 and 4 and a Starlink launch.

The first stage landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions that was out in the Atlantic Ocean.

About the mission

Eutelsat is a telecommunications company based in Paris, France, and provides television, internet and mobile communication services over most of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

The French company created two satellites: The Hotbird 13F (which was launched by SpaceX in October 2022) and the Hotbird 13G.

Together they will deliver 1,000 TV channels to more than 160 million homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, stated the company.

Recently, Eutelsat stated a proposed merger with OneWeb, a London-based communications company that plans to construct satellites that will deliver broadband internet service. OneWeb’s internet satellites are made in Merritt Island, Fla.

Watch the launch

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