Space Exploration Technologies launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida this weekend to put a commercial communications satellite into orbit.
The 224-foot (68-meter) tall rocket blasted off from its seaside launch pad at 1 a.m. EDT, soaring through cloudy, nighttime skies, as it headed toward space, according to Reuters.
Inside the rocket was the second of two satellites owned by Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Ltd, or AsiaSat.
The first satellite, called AsiaSat 8, was successfully delivered into an orbit 22,200 miles above Earth on Aug. 5.
Both satellites were manufactured by Space Systems/Loral, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based subsidiary of Canada's MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.
"With the two satellites coming out of the factory approximately the same time we were able to book back-to-back missions," said AsiaSat chief executive William Wade, according to Reuters.
AsiaSat spent about $110 million on each satellite, Wade said.
SpaceX planned to launch the second satellite, AsiaSat 6, two weeks ago, but delayed the flight to recheck the rocket's systems after an incident with the company's prototype Falcon 9R reusable lander during a test flight.
"We are confident there is no direct link," SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk wrote in a statement after delaying the launch.
The Falcon 9R, a modified three-engine Falcon rocket, self-destructed shortly after liftoff from SpaceX's McGregor, Texas, facility. The problem was due to a blocked sensor port, which wouldn't have impacted an operational Falcon rocket, according to Musk.
"What we do want to triple-check is whether even highly improbable...scenarios have the optimal fault detection and recovery logic," Musk said.
Sunday's launch was the 12th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, which flies Dragon cargo ships to the International Space Station for NASA, according to Reuters.
The satellite launched this weekend was equipped with 28 high-power C-band transponders for video distribution and broadband network services in China and Southeast Asia.
The new satellite is designed to last 15 years. It is also the sixth member of AsiaSat's current orbital network, according to Reuters.
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