SpaceX launches 1st Falcon 9 rocket of 2025, sends Thuraya 4 communications satellite to orbit (video) – Space.com
This was the 20th flight and recovery for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, and SpaceX’s 341st recovery of an orbital-class rocket.
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SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 rocket of 2025 tonight, in what should be another busy year for the company.A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off on Friday (Jan. 3) at 8:27 p.m. EST (0127 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, launching the Thuraya 4 spacecraft to geosynchronous orbit.Thuraya 4 is operated by Space42, a satellite and space services company based in the United Arab Emirates. The satellite will provide mobile communications services throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa for both commercial and government customers.Eight minutes and 40 seconds after taking off, the Falcon 9 booster returned to Earth for a landing aboard SpaceX’s droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” offshore nearby in the Atlantic Ocean.This was the 20th flight and recovery for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, and SpaceX’s 341st recovery of an orbital-class rocket, including both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters.Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/DeNJcdfH6tJanuary 4, 2025The first stage booster that launched today’s mission previously launched the ill-fated ispace Haukto-R moon lander to the lunar surface, an ISS resupply mission as well as 13 batches of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites.Roughly 35 minutes and 30 seconds into the flight, the Thuraya 4 satellite separated from the rocket’s second stage and deployed into geostationary transfer orbit, where it will then begin raising up to geosynchronous orbit above a fixed spot on Earth.Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! — Will 2025 be the year of Starship? SpaceX’s megarocket is growing up. — SpaceX likely to get FAA approval for 25 Starship launches in 2025 — SpaceX’s last launch of 2024 puts Starlink satellites into orbit (video)The Thuraya 4 mission marks SpaceX’s 418th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, and the company’s 435th mission overall. SpaceX launched more than 130 orbital missions in 2024, and this year’s total is expected to be even higher.The satellite on today’s flight is known more formally as the Thuraya 4-NGS (Next Generation System) and was built by Airbus. The technologies aboard the satellite will “unlock innovative AI-powered services,” Ali Al Hashemi, CEO of Yahsat Space Services, one of the two companies that form Space42, said in a statement.Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.Brett is curious about emerging aerospace technologies, alternative launch concepts, military space developments and uncrewed aircraft systems. Brett’s work has appeared on Scientific American, The War Zone, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery and more. Brett has English degrees from Clemson University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In his free time, Brett enjoys skywatching throughout the dark skies of the Appalachian mountains.India launches 2 SpaDeX satellites on ambitious space docking test for future moon mission, space stationSpaceX’s last launch of 2024 puts Starlink satellites into orbit (video)Blue Origin is expected to launch its 1st New Glenn rocket next week, but when?Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.©
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