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SpaceX successfully launched a satellite the size of a city bus into orbit

It was SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 launch.
It was SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 launch. It was SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 launch.

SpaceX has launched a satellite weighing around six metric tons to a geostationary transfer orbit, its 50th Falcon 9 launch.

At 12.33am local time, the Falcon 9 launched the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite successfully from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

After the launch, SpaceX said it was the third largest geostationary satellite it has flown to date.

The Hispasat 30W-6 will serve as a replacement for the Hispasat 30W-4, providing television, broadband, corporate networks and other telecommunications solutions.

Hispasat distributes and broadcasts Spanish and Portuguese content among other things, and this satellite in particular is expected to have a useful life of 15 years.

For those keen on watching the launch in full, SpaceX provided the video below.