Following a slow start to the year SpaceX has now launched the first of two payloads this month for AsiaSat, With less than a minute left in the original countdown this morning an abort was called, however due to the extended launch window they were able to analyze and resolve the issue and successfully lifted off at 4:00 am EDT.
Due to the weight and destination of the AsiaSat-8 spacecraft the Falcon 9 rocket will not be able to attempt a soft landing as all the fuel is needed to lift the spacecraft. Later this month SpaceX will be launching AsiaSat-6 which is based on the same design as AsiaSat-8.
If SpaceX can keep up a cadence of one launch every three weeks there is still a good chance they could achieve most of there stated goals for this years, only time will tell.
Below are some screen grabs of the launch.
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