UPDATE: SpaceX Pushes Back Falcon 9 Rocket Launch To Mid-February
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BREVARD COUNTY • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA — SpaceX was set to launch the EchoStar 23 satellite atop a Full Thrust Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 3 from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
However, SpaceX has pushed back the launch until mid-February.
Launch Pad 39A is the former Saturn V and space shuttle pad, and this will be the first SpaceX's launch from this historic site.
SpaceX is using the KSC launch pad because a fiery explosion destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket on the pad during a static test firing on Sept. 1, 2016 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Sation's Space Launch Complex 40, which is still undergoing repairs.
On January 14, SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, marking the company's return-to-first after the Sept. 1 explosion.
The EchoStar 23 satellite is highly flexible, Ku-band broadcast satellite services satellite with four main reflectors and multiple sub-reflectors.
It is capable of providing services from eight different orbital positions and has an expected service life of 15 years.
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SpaceX was set to launch the EchoStar 23 satellite atop a Full Thrust Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 3 from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.