Created 16-Nov-18
Modified 13-Dec-23
November 15, 2018 - At 3:46 p.m. EDT, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the Es'hail 2 communications satellite from LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center for Es'hailSat, Qatar's national satellite communications company. The spacecraft will provide television broadcasts, broadband connectivity and government services to Qatar and neighboring parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Es'hail 2 also carried the first amateur radio payload to fly in geostationary orbit.
The Falcon 9’s first stage was making its second launch following a prior liftoff and landing in July. After stage separation, it successfully landed on "Of Course I Still Love You", SpaceX’s droneship stationed about 400 miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. Several days later it arrived at Port Canaveral aboard the drone ship.
Launch photos taken from Canaveral National Seashore, a distance of about 4 miles.
© Dennis Huff
