SpaceX today sent the Falcon 9 rocket into space with a National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking its last launch in 2020
The mission, designated NROL-108 and canceled on Thursday due to a technical failure, was successfully carried out today during the stipulated time period, which started at 9:00 am local time (2:00 pm in Lisbon).
About eight minutes later, the first phase of the Falcon 9 rocket, as parts of the equipment and capsules, returned to the Earth’s surface and landed smoothly in Zone 1 of the space complex, while the second stage continues.
The founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, pointed out that this time “all systems and the weather were fine”.
On Thursday, SpaceX canceled the launch mission due to a high pressure problem in the liquid oxygen tank.
During the broadcast of the launch, the last of 2020 from SpaceX, the company’s production supervisor, Andy Tran, highlighted that it was “a success”.
The first stage of Falcon 9 had already flown on SpaceX commercial restoration missions to NASA’s International Space Station, such as Starlink (a satellite network to provide high-speed Internet) and Saocom 1B (launch operation to bring the spy satellite classified for Argentine space).
This year’s Saocom 1B mission was the first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral since 1969 to fly south to position its cargo in a high-tilt orbit.
