SpaceX's first-ever Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket thunders toward space carrying the Bangabandhu-1 satellite on May 11, 2018. SpaceX/YouTube

On Friday, Elon Musk and his rocket company, SpaceX, successfully launched the most advanced Falcon 9 rocket to date, called a Falcon 9 Block 5, then landed its giant booster on a ship at sea.

The launch came after an aborted attempt on Thursday, when flight computers automatically aborted the mission due to a relay glitch. The company resolved the problem and successfully launched on Friday.

Musk says the Block 5 is the final major version of the company's workhorse launcher, and that the system is designed to be the " most reliable rocket ever built."

"I hope fate does not punish me for these words, but that is unequivocally the intent, and I think our most conservative customers would agree that is an accurate statement," Musk told reporters during a teleconference call on Thursday. "Please, fate, do not punish me for this — the intentions are good."

The rocket's 16-story booster landed on a drone ship at sea about 8 minutes after launch.

The upper stage, which continued into deep space, deployed the first geostationary communications satellite for Bangladesh, called Bangabandhu-1, around 4:47 p.m. ET.

Why the Bangabandhu-1 mission was so important for SpaceX

Bangabandhu Satellite-1, the first high-orbit communications satellite for Bangladesh. Thales Alenia Space

Thales Alenia Space, the company that designed and built Bangabandhu-1, said in a statement that the spacecraft is a "historical first satellite" for Bangladesh.

Bangabandhu-1 is expected to bring state-of-the-art phone, radio, TV, and internet service to the nation of more than 160 million people, as well as surrounding countries like Nepal, Myanmar, and Bhutan.

But the 23-story rocket carrying the satellite was the real star of the mission: the Falcon 9 Block 5 is the most powerful, most reusable, and most likely last version of SpaceX's workhorse orbital launcher.

SpaceX had previously launched 55 missions on a Falcon 9 since the rocket's debut in June 2010. But engineers have steadily improved the system over time, making it taller, stronger, less heavy, and more powerful.

SpaceX's first Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket rolls out to a launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Elon Musk/SpaceX via Instagram

The most important changes have been made to help the booster — which makes up about 60-70% of marginal launch costs, according to Musk — launch, land, and be relaunched. Those upgrades have involved the addition of avionics, fins, and landing legs.

All other orbital rockets in use today get used just once then are discarded in the ocean.

So far, SpaceX has only reused a Falcon 9 booster twice. With Falcon 9 Block 5, Musk hopes to expand that record to 10 launches for each new booster with only quick inspections needed between launches. With minor servicing and refurbishments, he said, the boosters could perhaps get reused 100 times or more.

Combined with other tricks to reuse parts of the rocket — primarily the fairing (the nosecone of the rocket) and the upper stage — he noted this could lower marginal launch costs to under $5-6 million.

"We expect this to be the mainstay for SpaceX business," Musk said of the new rocket.

The reason Musk has called Falcon 9 Block 5 the "final version" is that SpaceX's 6,000 employees are shifting nearly all of their engineering efforts to focus on the company's Big Falcon Rocket.

The two-stage BFR system is expected to be taller than the Statue of Liberty, deliver a 16-story spaceship into orbit, be fully reusable, and ferry 100 people and 150 tons of cargo to Mars. It will ultimately replace all other SpaceX rockets, as it will be cheaper to launch and reuse than any Falcon 9 — at least in theory.

SpaceX recently got a permit to begin constructing the first BFR spaceships in the Port of Los Angeles, about a dozen miles south of the company's headquarters. Musk hopes to begin test-launching the first BFR spaceships at SpaceX's Texas facilities early next year.

Rewatch the first Falcon 9 Block 5 launch on YouTube

Although the rocket lifted off at 4:14 p.m. ET, you can rewatch the entire SpaceX live broadcast below.

The booster lands on a droneship about 8 minutes after the launch.

About 25 minutes after that, the upper stage of the rocket deploys the Bangabandhu-1 satellite into orbit some 22,230 miles above Earth.

This story has been updated with new information.</s>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX has launched a satellite for Bangladesh using an upgraded rocket designed for dozens of repeat flights.

This latest version of the Falcon 9 blasted off Friday from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. It carried up the first satellite belonging to Bangladesh. The communication satellite is named Bangabandhu-1 after the country's founding father.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk says the improved first-stage boosters can be reused more than 10 times — even 100 — and require little or no prep work. His goal is to launch the same booster twice within 24 hours, perhaps next year. That's how the company intends to shave launch costs.

This newest booster landed on an ocean platform following liftoff. It will be dissected before flying again in a few months.</s>Nasa’s next planet-hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), successfully launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on April 18, 2018 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photo: HANDOUT / NASA TV / AFP

TAMPA – SpaceX on Friday blasted off its newest and most powerful Falcon 9 rocket, known as the Block 5, carrying the first high-orbit communications satellite for Bangladesh and marking a leap forward in re-usability for the California-based aerospace company.

The rocket is designed to require far less maintenance and refurbishment between flights, and is certified to carry humans to space later this year when SpaceX launches its Dragon crew capsule to the International Space Station.

"Three, two one, zero, ignition, liftoff," a SpaceX commentator said as the rocket launched at 4:14 pm (2014 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket's main goal for its maiden mission was to propel a communications satellite for Bangladesh, called Bangabandhu Satellite-1, to a geostationary transfer orbit roughly 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometres) above Earth.

"In the continuous advancement of Bangladesh another milestone is added today," said Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a video address aired on SpaceX's launch webcast.

"With the launch of Bangabandhu-1, we are hoisting our national flag into space."

The satellite will offer video and communications coverage over Bangladesh and its territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal, as well as in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

"The satellite will also provide broadband connectivity to rural areas throughout the country," said a SpaceX statement, noting that the mission is expected to last at least 15 years.

About a half hour after launch, live images showed the satellite drifting into the inky blackness of space, as cheers and screams erupted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

"Successful deployment of Bangabandhu Satellite-1 to geostationary transfer orbit," SpaceX said on Twitter.

The launch was postponed at the last minute Thursday when an automatic abort switch was triggered, but SpaceX said it was just a glitch and the spacecraft remained in good health.

The rocket is built to re-fly up to 10 times with minimal refurbishment, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told reporters ahead of the launch.

"We expect there would be literally no action taken between flights, so just like aircraft," Musk said, describing the many years of effort that went into the rocket as "crazy hard."

After liftoff, the rocket made a successful upright landing on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, marking the 25th successful touchdown for SpaceX.

SpaceX has now landed 11 of its boosters on land and 14 on its droneships, which are floating platforms in the ocean, as part of its effort to bring down the cost of spaceflight and re-use costly rocket parts.

The first crew launch for SpaceX is tentatively planned for December 2018.

It will mark the first time since the end of the US space shuttle program in 2011 that a rocket has left US soil carrying people to space.</s>CAPE CANAVERAL (CBSMiami/AP) — SpaceX has successfully launched a satellite for Bangladesh using an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket designed for dozens of repeat flights.

This latest version of the Falcon 9 blasted off Friday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center 4:14 pm – a day later than originally planned.

The Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, as the latest version is called, carried the Bangabandhu Satellite-1 into orbit. The satellite will provide TV, internet and other telecom services to Bangladesh and the surrounding region. It’s the first satellite belonging to Bangladesh. The communication satellite is named Bangabandhu-1 after the country’s founding father.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk says the improved first-stage boosters on the rocket can be reused more than 10 times — even 100 — and require little or no prep work. His goal is to launch the same booster twice within 24 hours, perhaps next year. That’s how the company intends to shave launch costs.

After launch, the first-stage booster of the rocket detached and guided itself back to Earth, where it landed safely on a platform, or drone ship, in the ocean so it can be flown once again on a future mission.

SpaceX has landed and reflown boosters many times before. But in the eight-year history of flying Falcon 9 rockets, SpaceX has only ever sent the same rocket to space twice.

This trip did not carry astronauts. Though the Falcon 9 Block 5 was designed with human spaceflight in mind, NASA will require seven successful flights of the Block 5, with no significant changes to the rocket’s configuration, before allowing humans on board.

The United States has not flown humans to space since 2011. That was the final year of NASA’s Space Shuttle program.</s>Hawthorne-based SpaceX will look to make yet another rocket-industry advancement today when it attempts the first launch of the newest version of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, the Block 5.

Designed to be re-flown more times than ever, the rocket is scheduled to blast off at 2:47 p.m. Pacific time from the historic Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will deliver the government of Bangladesh’s first communications satellite, the Bangabandhu-1, into geostationary orbit. The satellite is expected to expand communication capabilities across Bangladesh and in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia.

The launch will be livestreamed and SpaceX will attempt to land the rocket’s first-stage booster on a drone ship named “Of Course I Still Love You” stationed on the Atlantic Ocean.

Equipped with upgraded heat shields to protect the rocket’s base during re-entry and improved navigation fins made of fire-resistant titanium, the Block 5 will be the final version of the Falcon 9. Eventually, it will be replaced by the BFR, or Big Falcon Rocket, which will be capable of flying into deep-space and taking commercial passengers around the world in record time by making short trips on the edge of the atmosphere.

Because the 4,400-ton megarocket will be too large for roads and must be moved by water, it will be built on a former shipyard on Terminal Island across from the future San Pedro Public Market. SpaceX expects to begin production on the BFR in two to three years.

Founder and CEO Elon Musk shared a photo on Instagram of the Block 5 standing vertical ahead of the inaugural launch.

All of its upgrades are designed to make Falcon 9 rockets, which SpaceX has recovered 24 times to cut costs on future missions, even more durable. Company officials have said the Block 5 model could potentially be used 10 times or more, while the current Falcon 9s have never been used more than twice.

Reusing the rockets is a major cost-saving step for space travel.

Although SpaceX has never fully divulged manufacturing costs, experts have estimated that the first stage of the rocket can cost up to $40 million alone. That’s more than half of the estimated overall $62 million price of the Falcon 9, according to various trade publications.</s>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 11 (Reuters) - An updated version of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, tailored for eventual crewed missions into orbit, made its debut launch on Friday from Florida's Cape Canaveral carrying a communications satellite for Bangladesh.

The newly minted Block-5 edition of the Falcon 9, equipped with about 100 upgrades for greater power, safety and reusability than its Block-4 predecessor, successfully lifted off at 4:14 p.m. EDT from the Kennedy Space Center. (Reporting by Joey Roulette in Cape Canaveral; Writing by Steve Gorman)</s>[CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida] An updated version of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, tailored for eventual crewed missions for Nasa, made its debut launch on Friday from Florida's Cape Canaveral carrying a communications satellite for Bangladesh into orbit.

The newly minted Block-5 edition of the Falcon 9 - equipped with about 100 upgrades for greater power, safety and reusability than its Block-4 predecessor - lifted off at 4.14pm EDT (2014 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center.

Minutes later, the rocket's main-stage booster flew itself back to Earth to achieve a safe return landing on an unmanned platform vessel floating in the Pacific Ocean.

The recoverable Block-5 booster is designed to be reused at least 10 times with minimal refurbishment between flights, allowing more frequent launches at lower cost - a key to the SpaceX business model.

Enhanced rocket reusability also is a core tenet of SpaceX owner and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's broader objectives of making space travel commonplace and ultimately sending humans to Mars.

SpaceX has safely return-landed 24 of its boosters and reflown 11 of them.

Friday's flight marked the ninth SpaceX launch so far this year, compared to five orbital-class missions the company had logged at the same point in 2017, according to Musk.

It came a day after the original launch countdown was halted one minute before blastoff time due to a technical problem detected by the rocket's onboard computers. Friday's second attempt by SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, appeared to have gone off without a hitch.

The rocket's payload, the Bangladeshi government's first communications satellite, Bangabandhu-1, was placed into Earth orbit at 4.47pm EDT, just 33 minutes after launch, according to SpaceX.

The achievement was hailed by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a livestream appearance from her country's capital, Dhaka.

"Today is a very delightful and glorious day for our motherland, Bangladesh, and Bangalee nation," she said. "With launching of Bangabandhu Satellite-1, we are hoisting our national flag in the space."

The Block-5 also marks another milestone for Mr Musk's California-based company. It is expected to be the first SpaceX vehicle to satisfy Nasa's standards for its Commercial Crew Program to carry agency astronauts to the International Space Station. Nasa requires seven successful flights before the new rocket receives final certification for a manned mission.

Besides missions to the space station, the new rocket will be used to launch US Air Force global positioning satellites and other high-value, military and national security payloads.

Block-5 marks the final version of the Falcon 9 lineup before SpaceX introduces its super heavy-lift launch vehicle, dubbed the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, which will be designed to send manned missions to Mars.

SpaceX is one of two private companies hired by Nasa to ferry astronaut crews to the space station. The other is Boeing Co.</s>CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) - With less than a minute before launch on Thursday (May 10), SpaceX aborted the liftoff of its new Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, which the California-based company promises to be more powerful and easier to re-use.

The next launch opportunity opens May 11, with a slightly more than two-hour window starting at opening at 4.14pm (4.14am on Friday, Singapore time) and ending at 6.21pm.

“The vehicle and payload are in good health,” said a SpaceX spokesman, who was unable to give a precise reason for the aborted launch at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The rocket’s main goal for its maiden mission is to propel the first high-orbit communications satellite for Bangladesh, called Bangabandhu Satellite-1.

Eventually, the rocket is slated to launch humans to the International Space Station, aboard SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule, still under development.

The first crew launch is tentatively planned for December 2018.

When that happens, it will mark the first time since the end of the US space shuttle programme in 2011 that a rocket has launched from the United States carrying people to space.

The Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket is built to re-fly up to 10 times with minimal refurbishment, SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk told reporters ahead of the launch.

“We expect there would be literally no action taken between flights, so just like aircraft,” Musk said.

“It has taken us – man, it’s been since 2002 – 16 years of extreme effort and many, many iterations, and thousands of small but important changes to get to where we think this is even possible,” he added.

“Crazy hard.” The Block 5 rocket is the final upgrade for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 fleet. Next, the company plans to focus on its heavy-lift rocket, called BFR.</s>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX is targeting the launch of a rocket carrying the Bangabandhu Satellite-1 from the Kennedy Space Center at 5:47 p.m.</s>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- SpaceX lifted Bangladesh's first satellite into orbit Friday using an upgraded rocket designed for dozens of repeat flights including back-to-back, same-day launches.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said launching the same rocket twice within 24 hours will be "crazy hard," but he hopes to pull off the feat as early as next year.

This latest and final version of the company's Falcon 9 rocket -- capable of more than 10 reflights, possibly even 100 -- made its debut Friday. It soared from NASA's Kennedy Space Center into a hazy afternoon sky, carrying a communication satellite named Bangabandhu-1 after the founding father of Bangladesh. A last-minute abort halted Thursday's try.

This newest booster landed on an ocean platform following liftoff as planned. "What a great sight!" the launch commentator announced as cheers and applause filled SpaceX Mission Control in Hawthorne, California. The booster will be taken apart for analysis before flying again in a few months. Musk's goal is to eventually have little if any prep work between launches.

The whole point of reusability -- multiple flights with swift turnarounds, airplane-style -- is to shave launch costs.

"This is a ridiculously hard thing," Musk told reporters before Thursday's postponement. "It has taken us ... 16 years of extreme effort and many, many iterations and thousands of small but important development changes to get to where we think this is even possible. Crazy hard. We still need to demonstrate it. It's not like we've done it. But it can be done."

The Falcon 9 is SpaceX's workhorse, regularly hauling satellites into orbit and supplies to the International Space Station. This new and improved model will be used to launch astronauts for NASA in the coming year.

So far, the first-stage boosters have been recycled once, for a total of two flights apiece. There has been a fair amount of maintenance between uses.

For this new model, SpaceX enhanced engine performance, strengthened various parts of the rocket and improved the landing gear system. In the most visible change, the segment between the first and upper stages went from white to black with the addition of new thermal insulation.

Musk wants to ultimately recover the entire rocket, not just the first stage, which accounts for 60 per cent of the cost. He expects more customers to start gravitating toward "flight-proven" rockets as he calls them.

"Would you rather fly in an aircraft that has never had a test flight before or would you rather fly in an aircraft that has flown many times successfully?" he said.

Musk plans to launch about 30 of these upgraded Falcon 9s before switching to a massive rocket still in development known as the BFR, or Big Falcon Rocket. Capable of launching spacecraft to Mars -- Musk's ultimate ambition is to colonize the red planet -- the BFR will replace not only the Falcon 9, but the brawny Falcon Heavy. The Heavy debuted in February, launching Musk's Tesla electric sports car toward the orbit of Mars.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, was thrilled to have its own satellite to spread internet throughout the land and provide emergency services in case of natural disasters.

Mohammad Ziauddin, Bangladesh's ambassador to the U.S., called it a historic occasion and a matter of great pride for his country's citizens.
SpaceX launches Bangabandhu-1, Bangladesh's first geostationary communications satellite, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States.