SpaceX successfully launches heavy communications satellite Intelsat 35e

SpaceX on 6 July 2017 launched a commercial communications satellite Intelsat 35e into space using Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, delivering the satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite was deployed about 32 minutes after launch.

This was the third flight of the Falcon 9 rocket within just 12 days. On 23 June 2017, SpaceX launched a Bulgarian communications satellite into space from launch complex 39A, using a pre-flown first stage booster while, the second launch took place on 25 June when SpaceX launched 10 communications satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

SpaceX tried launching the Intelsat 35e satellite previously on 2-3 July, but stopped twice in the final seconds of countdown.

Highlights of the Intelsat 35e Satellite

• With a launch mass of over 6.7 tons, the Intelsat 35e is the heaviest satellite Falcon 9 has ever sent to orbit.

• The Intelsat 35e is the fourth of the next-generation high throughput satellites for Luxembourg-based Intelsat.

• The Intelsat 35e satellite will provide commercial broadband communications services in the Caribbean, as well as services for government applications in the Caribbean, trans-Europe to Africa and the African continent.

The Intelsat 35e also marked the 10th of SpaceX launches this year. The company planned to launch more than 20 satellites in 2017. Last year, the company completed eight successful launches.