Memorial Day weekend began with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket punching through clouds above Cape Canaveral Space Force Station early Saturday.
Arabsat's 230-foot rocket launched from Launch Complex 40 at 12:30 a.m. EDT. The 10,000-pound satellite split from the rocket's second stage 37 minutes after liftoff.
SpaceX's 195th successful landing occurred when the 162-foot first stage landed on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship.
The booster's 14th flight was Saturday. Early next week, the ship and booster should return to Port Canaveral.
The Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Central Asia will get TV transmissions, broadband internet, and more from Arabsat's Airbus-built BADR-8 satellite.
The 2008 BADR-6 satellite will be replaced. The Space Coast's 26th launch occurred Saturday. The region will witness at least quadruple that amount by 2023 if the cadence maintains.
Next is another Falcon 9 rocket, scheduled to launch early Thursday, June 1. The rocket is planned to launch from Launch Complex 40 between 6 and 10 a.m. EDT, although SpaceX has not confirmed a timing.
That mission will launch the latest Starlink broadband satellites to low-Earth orbit and dock a drone ship in the Atlantic.
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