UPDATE 3
On Saturday, October 8 at 7:05 p.m. ET, SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 launched the Intelsat G-33/G-34 mission to a geosynchronous transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The two satellites launched on top of booster B1060, which ties the record for the most-flown booster in SpaceX’s fleet, numbering 14. This was also the first time a commercial payload flew on a booster with that many flights under its belt. The booster previously supported GPS-III-SV03, Türksat-5A, Transporter-2, as well as 10 different Starlink missions.
“Today’s launch demonstrates Intelsat’s long-term commitment to our media customers,” said Intelsat CEO Dave Wajsgras. “The Intelsat Galaxy fleet is the most reliable and efficient media content distribution system in North America, and this investment will provide our customers with a reliable and high-performance technology path for media distribution through the next decade.”
Galaxy 33 separated from the vehicle at 7:38 p.m. EDT, and Intelsat confirmed its signal acquisition at 7:43 p.m. EDT. Galaxy 34 separated from the vehicle at 7:43 p.m. EDT, and Intelsat confirmed its signal acquisition at 8:20 p.m. EDT.
Galaxy 33 will be the replacement satellite at 133 degrees west once it is in service in early November. The satellite will provide service continuity for distribution to cable headends throughout the United States.
Galaxy 34 will replace Galaxy 12 at 129 degrees west once it is in service in late 2022. This satellite will serve as the new restoration payload for Intelsat’s Galaxy cable distribution customers, allowing the previous restoration role at 121 degrees west to be converted to a core cable distribution satellite.
UPDATE 2
The launch on Friday has been scrubbed. Now SpaceX is targeting Saturday, October 8 for launch of the Intelsat G-33/G-34 mission to a geosynchronous transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 70-minute launch window opens at 7:05 p.m. ET (23:05 UTC).
UPDATE 1
After an auto-abort by Falcon 9 at T-30 seconds stopped the count for the day on October 6 the launch was moved to Friday, October 7th. SpaceX is targeting Friday, October 7th, for the launch of the Intelsat G-33/G-34 satellites to GEO from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The 67-minute launch window opens at 7:06 p.m. ET (23:07 UTC).
The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, and 10 Starlink missions.
After stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Watch the live launch webcast starting about 15 minutes before liftoff via this direct link…
