The SpaceX rocket from their historic astronaut mission to the International Space Station, accomplished two months ago, was launched again on Monday evening (July 20th), heading over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the ANASIS-II into orbit. 

The reusable rocket Falcon 9 took off during a launch window which was open Monday at 5p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) and closed at 8:55p.m. EDT from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. 

Inside the cone nose of the rocket there was the ANASIS-II communications satellite property to the South Korean military, which in fact is their first-of-its-kind satellite. It was manufactured in France by Airbus Defense and Space and its name stands for Army/Navy/Air Force Satellite Information System. Due to the fact that the design is based on Airbus’s Eurostar E3000, the company, pioneer in the sector, stated that it “will provide secured communications over wide coverage”. ANASIS-II will fly into a circular geostationary Earth orbit of more than 36,000 kilometers (or around 22,000 miles) over the equator.

As usually when transporting confidential security related cargo, SpaceX did not broadcasted the deployment of the satellite from the rocket. However, they did show the landing of its bottom part which consists of nine powerful engines providing the needed strength of the initial thrust on every launch. The live video and audio stream from the control center was available during the flight and everybody who is interested in it could watch it for free. 

The same SpaceX’s rocket booster was used for their first mission with people on board. On May 30 this year it was launched carrying the spacecraft named Crew Dragon into orbit. The NASA astronauts on board were Bob Behnken and Douglas Hurley who reached the International Space Station successfully, the return is expected to be in August. 

Falcon 9 is the only rocket (space vehicle) in the world that is constructed with a reusable first-stage booster but it is believed this will give a start to a new space era developing new technologies faster and reaching new planets (the big dream of stepping on the Moon and even Mars). 

The essence of Elon Musk’s mission, the CEO of SpaceX, is to reduce the cost of satellites and spacecraft that are launched and eventually to send more people into space in future. The company’s reflying and refurbishing rocket hardware saves lots of money. However, their success in building reusable technologies had woken up the “space race” and now many other companies are attempting to succeed in the same area, example of such competitors are the rocket builder United Launch Alliance and the newcomer Blue Origin. 

The rocket booster has already made up to five flights, but Musk confirmed that the latest version can fly more than ten times with just minimum changes and repairs between launches. 

We will follow the development of this industry and some may have the luck to visit the Moon or Mars in the next few years. 

Companies like SpaceX that drive the evolution of technologies ahead are people’s future.