24 June 2024
SpaceX launches latest SES broadcast satellite
![](https://admin.qlspace.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/News-image-15th-May-1116500.jpg)
TAMPA, Fla. — SpaceX successfully launched Astra 1P for Luxembourg fleet operator SES June 20 toward geostationary orbit, where it is eventually due to replace four older broadcast satellites over Europe.
A Falcon 9 lifted off 5:35 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida after twice being delayed a day because of bad weather.
Astra 1P was placed in geostationary transfer orbit around 35 minutes later, not long after the rocket’s first stage successfully landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean for reuse.
SES was the first commercial satellite operator to launch with SpaceX back in 2013, and in 2017 the company also became the first to use a previously flown booster.
SpaceX booster landings have since become routine and this mission marked the company’s 320th time landing an orbital-class rocket.
The booster that lofted Astra 1P had previously launched eight times, including four missions for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation.