by Update for 9:30 PM ET: SpaceX has delayed the launch of the Eutelsat 10B satellite by 24 hours, not until Tuesday, November 22, to allow more time for additional checks on the mission’s Falcon 9 rocket. Launch remains scheduled for 9:57 PM EST (0257 Nov. 23 GMT). The delay means the launch will take place about 6 hours after SpaceX’s launch of a new Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station for NASA.
SpaceX is launching a communications satellite for Internet services on planes and at sea, and you can follow the life of the event.
SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 rocket to launch the Eutelsat 10B mission on behalf of Eutelsat Tuesday (Nov. 22) at 9:57 p.m. EST (0257 on Nov. 23 GMT). Live coverage will be available here on Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, approximately 15 minutes before launch.
The mission will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Florida coast; the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket is expected to land on a nearby drone ship stationed in the Atlantic about 10 minutes after launch. According to SpaceX, this will be the 11th launch of the Falcon 9 first stage.
“The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched Telstar 18 Vantage, Iridium-8 and eight Starlink missions,” SpaceX officials wrote of the rocket. (Starlink is SpaceX’s broadband Internet series of satellites, with more than 3,000 currently in orbit.)
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During launch, Eutelsat 10B will be placed in geostationary orbit to make its way to a geosynchronous orbit, meaning it will orbit the Earth in such a way that it can constantly gaze at part of the planet below .
Eutelsat 10B will carry a high-capacity communications payload in the Ku band “in the busiest air and sea traffic zones” over the North Atlantic, Europe, the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East, Eutelsat officials wrote. (opens in new tab) of the mission. A second Ku-band payload will be available for the Atlantic, Africa and Indian Oceans.
The satellite will also carry two widebeam C- and Ku-band payloads for existing customers on Eutelsat 10A, Eutelsat officials said. The new satellite will replace the 12-year-old Eutelsat 10A, which is expected to enter the end of service in 2023 for customers in the Americas and Asia.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why am I taller (opens in new tab)(ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a space medicine book. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
