SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral ends almost two week launch drought

Despite windy conditions and storms off the coast, SpaceX broke the almost two-week launch drought on Thursday, as a Falcon 9 blasted through the clouds carrying a European satellite into orbit.

Approximately eight and a half minutes later, the first stage booster landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. This marked SpaceX's 250th first stage landing for an orbital mission, and it was the Space Coast's 45th launch of the year.

Thursday's launch was the first since Friday, June 7 ? almost two weeks ago. That was a Starlink launch from Launch Complex 40, which due to NOAA's GOES-U weather satellite heading for Pad 39A, is SpaceX's only open pad. A troubled Falcon 9 led to SpaceX having to remove that rocket carrying another batch of Starlink satellites from the launch pad in order to get Astra 1P/SES-24 off the ground.

Then weather slowed everything down even more. Rain and heavy winds scrubbed the liftoff two days in a row, before the satellite finally blasted off the launch pad Thursday.

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The SES/Astra communication satellite was carried to orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket, which lifted off on time at 5:35 p.m. EDT.

Astra 1P/SES-24 is a communications satellite for an SES and Astra partnership, which are European communication organizations. The Ku-band geostationary satellite, which was developed by Thales Alenia Space, will provide satellite TV service for Germany, France and Spain. According to the SES website, Astra satellites have been providing TV and radio for Germany since 1988.

What rocket will launch next from Cape Canaveral, Florida?

According to a Geospatial Navigational Warning and FAA advisory, SpaceX plans to launch its much delayed Starlink 10-2 mission on Sunday, June 23, during a window which opens at 1:03 p.m. EDT. The launch will be from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40.

The mission was delayed after a last-minute abort on Friday, June 14, which, according to Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX vice president of launch, was due to an issue with the rocket.

On Tuesday, June 25, NOAA weather satellite GOES-U is set to launch at 5:16 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A. The launch rocket will be Falcon Heavy, a rarity which is brought out for missions which require heavy lifting. GOES-U is not a small satellite ? comparable in size to a small school bus.

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at [email protected] or on X: @brookeofstars.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX rocket launched SES/Astra satellite from Florida