Two satellites are launched into orbit by SpaceX's Falcon 9 in a breathtaking sky display.
After back-to-back scrubs, SpaceX launched two Intelsat communications satellites from Cape Canaveral on Saturday night, the company's third Falcon 9 launch
in as many days, but two days behind schedule.It came after two flights on Wednesday that were only seven hours apart, one from each coast.
At 7:05 p.m. EDT, the most recent Falcon 9 launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and rose away over the Atlantic Ocean on a due-east trajectory.
The rocket's second stage exhaust plume was visible in stunning detail on video taken from the SpaceX droneship,
which was waiting for the first stage several hundred miles away in the Atlantic Ocean. This image is most striking when backlit at sunrise or sunset.
The satellites are the most recent in an FCC-mandated effort to clear radio spectrum for 5G mobile networks, necessitating the construction of new satellites to make up
for capacity lost. Numerous well-known media organisations, including as HBO, the Disney channel, Starz, and the Discovery channel, will make use of Galaxy 33 and 34.
According to Jean-Luc Froeliger, senior vice president of space systems at Intelsat, "they're a part of a seven-satellite deal
that we executed in 2020 to replace some of our Galaxy satellites."