28 June, 2017
Following the separation of the satellite from the Falcon 9 rocket, members of SpaceX mission control will be hoping to witness the recycled craft touchdown safely on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
SpaceX successfully launched another Falcon 9 rocket for the eighth time in 2017 this Friday, June 23, matching last year's total flight number.
The second rocket was launched on 25 June from California's Vandenberg Air Force at 16:25 PM ET. Company founder Elon Musk noted that Friday's attempt was one of the most hard recovery efforts, saying the returning rocket "will experience its highest ever re- entry force and heat".
The mission is titled BulgariaSat-1 and is carrying the payload of Bulgaria's very first geostationary communications satellite.
The first 10 Iridium NEXT satellites were sent into a pole-to-pole orbit aboard a two-stage Falcon 9 that was launched in January.
Iridium plans to launch 75 new satellites for its mobile voice and data communications system by mid-2018.
SpaceX swept its weekend doubleheader, successfully launching and landing two reusable Falcon 9 rockets in a span of 48 hours. Six more launches are scheduled over the next 12 months to place the remaining Iridium Next satellites into orbit.
The second Falcon 9, launched from California, sported four newly upgraded titanium grid fins experiencing their first flight.
SpaceX hopes to reuse its first stages as many as 10 times each, making launches a lot cheaper. The first stage then landed on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" in the Pacific ocean. The new materials, which replaced shielded aluminum, can be reused without refurbishment.
This is the second launch SpaceX is attempting in one weekend - the quickest turnaround ever. But SpaceX's video stream showed the rocket descending smoothly to a touchdown on the ship's rolling deck.
"Rocket is extra toasty and hit the deck hard (used nearly all of the emergency crush core), but otherwise good", SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted shortly after the landing.