SpaceX successfully launches the latest and most powerful Falcon 9 rocket, known as Block-5, on Friday (11/5). The rocket brings the first Bangladesh high-orbital communications satellite Bangabandhu-1 and marks a leap forward in rocket reusable take off by California aerospace-based.
The rocket is designed for lower maintenance and repair needs among space flights and is certified to send humans into space later this year when SpaceX unveils Dragon's crew capsule to the International Space Station.
"Three, two, one, zero, ignition, take off," said a SpaceX commentator when the rocket was launched at 4:14 pm (2014 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The main goal of the Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket on its first mission is to carry a Bangladeshi communication satellite, called Bangabandhu Satellite-1, into geostationary transfer orbit about 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) above Earth.
"In continuing Bangladesh's progress, another milestone is added today," said Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a video address broadcast on the SpaceX launch webcast.
"With the launch of Bangabandhu-1, we raised our national flag into space."
The satellite will offer video and communication coverage over Bangladesh and its territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal, as well as in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia.
"The satellite will also provide broadband connectivity to rural areas across the country," said SpaceX statement, noting that the mission is expected to last 15 years.
About half an hour after launch, the live images show satellites drifting into dark space, greeted with cheers and screams at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
"The successful deployment of Bangabandhu Satellite-1 into the geostationary transfer orbit," SpaceX tweets on official Twitter
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