SpaceX's latest mission is finally off the ground as a Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Monday morning after a series of scrubbed launch attempts.
The 224-foot-tall rocket soared off the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 11:15 a.m. to deliver a payload of six commercial satellites into orbit for the private company Orbcomm.
The rocket launch was delayed several times before Monday's successful launch. The delays started back on May 10, as a series of technical and weather-related issues forced three separate scrubs.
The launch time was delayed slightly again on Monday morning, first from 9:21 back to 11:44 a.m., and then up again to 11:15 a.m., which gave SpaceX the perfect window to send the rocket skyward.
Orbcomm said the reason for the last-minute delays was "out of an abundance of caution" to "look at a potential ground systems issue."
The satellites are designed to provide stronger communications for the company's customers around the world. Orbcomm is launching a total of 17 satellites as part of a $230 million expansion plan.
It's this sort of commercial mission that SpaceX is expected to announce plans to move some of its launches to Texas, at a new facility to be built in Brownsville.
SpaceX will continue to launch missions for NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense from Cape Canaveral.
Besides deploying the satellites for Orbcomm, SpaceX is also testing its second-stage rocket, equipped with modified landing legs, to see if it can be reused after an Atlantic Ocean water landing. Those results, however, will take about two days once the booster is recovered.
Two more rocket launches are scheduled from the Space Coast in July:
- Wednesday, July 23:
A Delta IV rocket carrying a pair of Air Force satellites is scheduled to launch between 6 and 10 p.m.
- Thursday, July 31:
An Atlas V rocket is set to carry a GPS navigation satellite into orbit on a late-night launch between 11:27 and 11:45 p.m.
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