SpaceX launches EchoStar communication satellite

Washington: SpaceX on Thursday launched the EchoStar 23 communications satellite after high winds delayed a previous attempt.

The launch took place at the historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket deployed the EchoStar 23 — a commercial communications satellite for EchoStar Corporation — to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

“Successful deployment of @EchoStar XXIII to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit confirmed,” the Hawthorne,



California-headquartered company headed by Elon Musk, said in a tweet.

Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, and conducting business around the globe, EchoStar Corporation is global provider of satellite communication solutions.

EchoStar 23 is a highly flexible, Ku-band broadcast satellite services (BSS) satellite with four main reflectors and multiple sub-reflectors supporting mission profiles.

High winds forced SpaceX to postpone an earlier attempt to launch the communications satellite on Tuesday.