Posted: Tue, Jan 7, 2014, 9:07 AM ET (1407 GMT)
A Falcon 9 rocket successfully placed a commercial communications satellite into orbit Monday evening. The Falcon 9 v1.1 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on schedule at 5:06 pm EST (2206 GMT) Monday and released the Thaicom 6 satellite into a supersynchronous transfer orbit 31 minutes later. The satellite, built by Orbital Sciences, weighed 3,330 kilograms at launch and carries C- and Ku-band transponders. Thai satellite operator Thaicom to provide communications services for Southeast Asia and Africa from 78.5 degrees east in GEO. The launch was the second launch in just over a month for the Falcon 9, and the third for the upgraded version of the rocket. The launch had been scheduled for Friday but delayed to Monday because of a unspecified issue with the rocket.

Related Links:

•  CBS News article
•  Space News article
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Reuters article
•  SpaceX press release