spacetoday.net: Falcon 9 launches AsiaSat 6

Posted: Sun, Sep 7, 2014, 10:44 AM ET (1444 GMT)
Falcon 9 v1.1 launch of AsiaSat 6 (AsiaSat)

For the second time in as many months, a Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched a communications satellite for an Asian company early Sunday. The Falcon 9 v1.1 lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1 am EDT (0500 GMT) and released the AsiaSat 6 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit a little more than a half-hour later. SpaceX delayed the launch by 10 minutes to allow cloudy conditions to clear. SpaceX had planned to carry out the launch in late August but delayed the mission to perform additional checks after an experimental vehicle was destroyed during a test flight in Texas on August 22. AsiaSat 6, a Space Systems/Loral 1300 series model, will provide C-band communications services from 120 degrees east in GEO. SpaceX launched a similar satellite, AsiaSat 8, in early August.