Elon Musk's SpaceX company managed another successful launch with a Bulgarian Communications Satellite on Friday. The SpaceX Falcon 9 mission is the second refurbished rocket to launch successfully. The company re-used the first stage of the rocket by carrying the BulgariaSat-1 spacecraft.
The Spacecraft lifted off at the Kennedy Space Center and separated from the Falcon 9’s second stage exactly 35 minutes after the launch. There was a slight delay in the timing because of the additional pre-launch tests. However, the mission was a great success for SpaceX, and now they seem to be more confident for future operations similar to this.
The launch was a super challenging attempt for SpaceX
The company had come up with the idea, and since then, they have been working on it. The task was never easy as SpaceX cautioned it to be super challenging. To get a reused rocket's first stage working successfully, it requires tedious dedication and hard work. SpaceX has proved something new to the world by this mission.
The Falcon 9s first stage has flown for the second time. Previously SpaceX launched the SES-10 satellite in March, where the first stage for the SES-10 satellite mission was carried out in January at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. In that mission, the spacecraft landed on the ship offshore after carrying 10 Iridium Next satellites into the orbit.
The BulgariaSat-1 has a measured mass of 4,000 kilograms, and it carries transponders to provide an established broadcast satellite services, which is said to have a lifetime of 15 years. According to Space News, the Bulgarian telecommunications provider "Bulsatcom" will use 46 percent of the satellite’s capacity.
The second rocket will take off on Sunday
SpaceX has a goal to cut the costs of space travel, and they are determined to achieve it. With their progress, the company seems to be getting closer to their goal sooner than expected. SpaceX is attempting to launch a rocket on Sunday, that said, this will be the first time the company will launch two rockets in 48 hours.
The president of the company Gwynne Shotwell said that she hopes they will be launching rockets at a faster pace. The Sunday's launch will place the second batch of Iridium satellites with a completely new Falcon 9 rocket.The company has launched six rockets in 2017, the launch that is scheduled for tomorrow will be their seventh.
