On March 4, 2021, SpaceX successfully sent its 5-ton communications satellite into orbit with its Falcon 9 rocket. This marked yet another important milestone in the space exploration progress the aerospace company has made in the last few years.
The satellite, named Arabsat-6A, was commissioned for the Dubai-based Arabsat organization and is the first of dozens of advanced high-capacity communications satellites scheduled to deploy over the next few years. The satellite was sent from SpaceX’s Launch Complex 39A in Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The launch comes less than a month after its successful launch of a 6-ton commercial communications satellite from the same facility.
Since the launch, the Arabsat-6A has been functioning nominally in its geostationary orbit, providing a variety of services to the Middle East, Africa and Europe region. According to Arabsat officials, the satellite has a footprint of three beams – one over Middle East and North Africa, one over Sub-Saharan Africa and one over Europe – each delivering advanced Ka-band high-throughput communications systems.
This mission highlights SpaceX’s continued success in delivering payloads of various sizes and mass into space. SpaceX has earned a reputation for its cost-effective and reliable rocket services that continue to revolutionize the world of commercial space travel.
The Falcon 9 rocket used for this mission was also previously used for two other satellite missions for Arabsat. This is yet another example of SpaceX’s reusability strategy, which helps to bring down costs of launches.
The successful launch signals the rise of SpaceX’s significance in the ever-growing satellite industry. With each launch, SpaceX is pushing the boundaries of what is possible and making space travel more accessible to everyone.
