spacetoday.net: First Falcon 9 Block 5 launches Bangladeshi satellite

Posted: Sat, May 12, 2018, 6:18 PM ET (2218 GMT)
Falcon 9 launch of Bangabandhu-1 (SpaceX)

The first Block 5 version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched a communications satellite for Bangladesh Friday afternoon. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 4:12 pm EDT (2012 GMT) and deployed the Bangabandhu-1 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit about 34 minutes later. The satellite, built by Thales Alenia Space for the government of Bangladesh, will provide C- and Ku-band services from 119.1 degrees east in GEO. The launch was the first for the Block 5 version of the Falcon 9, the latest and final major upgrade to the rocket with various improvements to increase its reliability and reusability, including being able to reuse the first stage at least 10 times and with a goal of flying two missions in 24 hours.