SpaceX has successfully launched Saudi Arabia’s Arabsat 6A satellite in its first commercial Falcon Heavy mission, and pulled off a triple booster landing at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The broadcast and communications satellite, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, will be placed in orbit at 30.5 degrees East."Arabsat-6A is a high-capacity telecommunications satellite that will deliver television, radio, Internet, and mobile communications to customers in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Built by Lockheed Martin, Arabsat 6A is the largest and most powerful commercial satellite Lockheed Martin has ever produced,” said Khaled bin Ahmed Balkheyour, president & CEO of Arabsat.
“The modernised LM 2100 includes several innovations that make the satellite more powerful, more flexible and more versatile in orbit.”
Arabsat 6A will provide advanced Ka-spot beam communications services and Ku and Ka-band coverage for customers across MENA and parts of Europe.
The flight of SpaceX’s megarocket, which essentially comprises three of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets strapped together, came over a year after the rocket’s demonstration mission. That propelled a Tesla car owned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk and a manakin named Starman into orbit around the sun.
