SpaceX continued it’s 2016 campaign with the successful launch of the Thaicom 8 satellite this evening.
Originally scheduled for yesterday 5/26 the launch was postponed to allow more time to investigate an issue found during the countdown.
@SpaceX There was a tiny glitch in the motion of an upper stage engine actuator. Probably not a flight risk, but still worth investigating.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2016
Today’s countdown proceeded smoothly before the Falcon 9’s engines roared to life at 5:39 pm EDT, following a 2:35 minute burn the first stage completed it’s job and returned to the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You”, while the second stage propelled the satellite to orbit.
As with the previous two launches SpaceX returned the first stage to the droneship and again completed a successful landing. As with the JCSAT landing this was made more difficult due to the speed of the first stage during re-entry.
Video of the launch
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