SpaceX launches 3 telecom satellites to orbit on 700th Falcon mission of all time (video)
AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication
SpaceX lifted three O3b mPOWER telecommunications satellites into medium‑Earth orbit on September 13, marking the 700th flight of its Falcon family. The Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral at 14:49 EDT, carrying the final trio for Luxembourg‑based SES, which will complete the company’s 13‑satellite constellation. The booster, designated B1080, returned to the Atlantic and landed on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” after a nine‑minute flight, its 29th reuse. The upper stage deployed the 3,750‑pound Boeing‑built satellites at roughly 5,000 miles altitude over a 14‑minute window beginning 33.5 minutes after liftoff. SES already operates ten O3b mPOWER units; the new satellites add low‑latency, high‑throughput capacity for critical‑uptime industries. The launch was SpaceX’s 107th orbital mission of 2026, its 105th Falcon 9 flight today.
💡 Why It Matters
- · Completing the O3b mPOWER network gives operators a fully redundant, low‑latency backbone for mission‑critical data, a capability few satellite systems can match.
- · Reaching 700 Falcon flights underscores SpaceX’s proven launch cadence and reusable‑booster economics.
