The BulgariaSat-1 mission launched on Friday, at 3:10 p.m. Several minutes later, the rocket's first stage safely landed on the floating platform located in the Atlantic Ocean. The mission on Friday was to delivery Bulgaria’s first ever geostationary communications satellite into orbit, so that it could begin operations broadcast communication networks and HDTV signals for clients on Earth in parts of Europe. The rocket’s first stage the 14-story-tall core that houses the fuel and the rocket’s main engines touched down on one of the company’s autonomous drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off from a launch pad at nearby Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center is the second ever re-use of an orbital rocket, after SpaceX successfully completed its first reflight of recycled Falcon 9 first stage back in March.
SpaceX launches BulgariaSat-1, Bulgaria's first ever geostationary communications satellite, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket, which successfully lands on an autonomous spaceport drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.