In Photos: SpaceX's Double Rocket Launches and Landings of October 2017
Horizontal Integration Facility
The Falcon 9 lifts off behind the SpaceX horizontal integration facility at Kennedy Space Center. [Full Story: That Makes Three: SpaceX Launches Another Satellite with a Used Rocket, Then Lands]
Reused Rocket No. 3
The Falcon 9 rocket SpaceX launched with the EchoStar satellite on Oct. 11 was the third reused rocket booster to launch and land upright. It then returned to Earth to stick a landing on a drone ship named "Of Course I Still Love You," which was awaiting the Falcon 9 in the Atlantic Ocean. [Full Story: That Makes Three: SpaceX Launches Another Satellite with a Used Rocket, Then Lands]
Falcon 9 Soars to Space
Falcon 9’s first stage for the EchoStar 105/SES-11 mission previously launched SpaceX’s 10th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (CRS-10) in February of 2017. [Full Story: That Makes Three: SpaceX Launches Another Satellite with a Used Rocket, Then Lands]
Falcon 9 First Stage on Drone Ship
The first stage of a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sits on the deck of a robotic “drone ship” in the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 11, 2017, shortly after helping launch the EchoStar 105/SES-11 communications satellite to orbit. [Full Story: That Makes Three: SpaceX Launches Another Satellite with a Used Rocket, Then Lands]
EchoStar Deployed
The Falcon 9's second stage deployed the satellite into its planned geostationary transfer orbit 36 minutes after liftoff. [Full Story: That Makes Three: SpaceX Launches Another Satellite with a Used Rocket, Then Lands]
EchoStar Mission Patch
The official mission patch for SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch of the EchoStar 105/SES-11 communications satellite on Oct. 11, 2017.
Iridium-3 Mission Patch
The official mission patch for SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch of 10 Iridium Next satellites on Oct. 9, 2017.
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